


Necessity

by sepia_cigarettes



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 11:25:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 36,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1603451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepia_cigarettes/pseuds/sepia_cigarettes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Inuzukas stay at the Aburames for a week. It’s an opportunity for Shino’s parents to catch up with an old friend whilst he takes care of their son. Shino knows his duties. He knows he is meant to advance through each shinobi level, join an ANBU team, welcome the wife his parents choose him and provide them with grandchildren. Simple, straightforward and necessary. He just didn’t count on Inuzuka Kiba being so enticing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Necessity

**Author's Note:**

> 36,000 words of Shiba drama. Borderline PWP, I'm guessing, but I promise there's plot if you squint hard enough. As always, if there are any mistakes that are irritating the hell out of you, send me a buzz and I'll fix it up.
> 
> 2017 update: So I'm in the process of editing this; I'll keep you posted

**[Shino]**

_Precision_ , Shino reminded himself as he honed his focus on the chakra flow throughout his body, _was the key._

Tucked within the pockets of his chakra pathways closest to his heart was the thing he had been searching for, and he redoubled his efforts, reaching out and grasping onto the slippery object. It wriggled in his hold like a fish and he tightened his grip, pulling it up and out.

A shimmering pod of energy, enough to leave his bugs in gluttony for weeks. He had been storing it away for quite some time, in the case of an emergency, and this was certainly—if not urgent—at least a time that required such a large mass of chakra.

“Shino.”

He startled at the sound of his mother’s voice, fumbled briefly with the newfound chakra source and mentally kept it in view. He could not lose focus; he had the wellbeing of his kikaichū to think about, and their new food source needed to be generous.

“The guests will be here soon. Wash up and come downstairs so that we may greet them as a family, alright?”

Shino nodded, “Yes, Mother.”

Inuzuka Tsume—the head of the Inuzuka clan and his parents’ business associate who had been Shino’s father’s ANBU teammate—was coming to stay for a week, and coming with her was her youngest child, since her oldest was starting college in the new year and was staying with friends because of it. Shino had never met the Inuzukas, but he had heard that they were wild and untamed, better suited to living with their canine companions than humans. At the news of the impending visit, Shino's parents had automatically relegated him with the task of looking after the Inuzuka offspring, and Shino had been in no position to deny them.

The presence of guests meant that Shino would not have time for his kikaichū though, and so that led to here, where he had been searching for the pod of chakra to let his kikaichū bugs feed for the period of seven days without them needing him. Babysitting was going to be a big job, and Shino hoped to have as few distractions as possible.

Wordlessly he drew the pod of chakra out and saw it in the dull light of his room. It was a shimmery ball of energy and he set it down in the case he had prepared, before closing his eyes and directing the kikaichū to their temporary home.

“Just for a short time,” he whispered when a couple of them dissented, and they reluctantly joined their cohort. “I’m sorry.”

He straightened up and closed the case on them, feeling oddly empty without the presence of the kikaichū. Then he did as his mother had requested, ducking into his bathroom and scrubbing his face and hands, resolutely ignoring the rapidly healing sores on his skin. A downside of the kikaichū, he supposed, but necessary for their loyalty, and it was over in a matter of minutes.

He sighed, ran fingers through his hair until the strands seemed less like he had run through a hailstorm, and then left to join his parents downstairs.

+

The Inuzuka family was not what Shino had been expecting. Certainly their appearances were more than a little deviant, with fangs all ’round and wolfish eyes, but they were cordial, and his father and the Inuzuka head hugged like old friends.

 _Which they were,_ Shino remembered.

He guessed the most surprising fact was the Inuzuka child. No, ‘child’ was the wrong word; this was a young man close to Shino’s age, and all thoughts of babysitting fled Shino’s mind as the teenager met his gaze before slowly looking down his form and then back up. The look felt intrusive and Shino bristled at the boy’s boldness, before the boy’s mother spoke up in that rough voice of hers.

“This is my son, Kiba,” Tsume said, laying a hand on the teenager, and Shino’s father smiled, copying the movement on Shino.

“Shino,” he smiled as a way of introduction. “If it pleases you, I have arranged for Kiba to stay in the room adjacent to Shino’s."

“Sure!” the Inuzuka elder said, grinning toothily and clapping Kiba on the back. “Kiba would love that, wouldn’t you, Kiba?”

Another of those deliberate looks at Shino and the Inuzuka’s smile matched his mother's, “Absolutely.”

“Go and show him, Shino,” his father said softly and Shino turned and left without a word.

He was acutely aware of the other presence following him, and to detract from the unsettling feeling he let his focus drift to the conversation between their parents as he led Inuzuka upstairs to the room next to his own.

“You’ll be staying here,” Shino explained, opening the door and stepping inside.

“Cheers,” Inuzuka answered, dumping his bag on the freshly made bed and leaning against the bedpost, thumbs tucking themselves into the belt loops of his faded jeans. “It’s Shino, hey?”

It was a question, but it didn’t sound like one either, so Shino answered neutrally, “ _Hai_.”

“How old are you?”

Shino had no idea why the boy would want his age, but it seemed polite to answer accordingly, especially considering Inuzuka was a guest in his household and he was a host, so he did, “Eighteen.”

“Same age, huh?” Inuzuka grinned then, feral and wide, like a wolf. “I turned eighteen in July.”

“January,” Shino replied, still feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“Older, then,” Inuzuka said, then shrugged. “I wasn’t expecting you to be the same age as me.”

“Neither.”

“I thought you were going to be like, thirteen or something. Made me a bit pissed, actually, thinking I was spending a whole week with a child as my only company, but now…”

And there was that _look_ again, like Inuzuka wanted to eat him whole.

“Why are you here?” Shino asked, confused.

“Mom wanted me to meet my new teammate.” At Shino’s look of surprise he huffed a breath of laughter. “Didn’t you know? We’re going to be ANBU teammates someday. The council always chooses one Hyūga, one Inuzuka and one Aburame.”

Faintly, Shino recalled being told that, but he hadn’t spent much time lately dwelling on his ANBU duties, opting instead to focus on entomological pursuits.

“That’s us, you know,” Kiba’s grin widened. “And you have no idea how happy that makes me.”

“Why?” Shino questioned, wary, for Inuzuka was giving him another once-over.

“Kami, don’t tell me you're oblivious?” he said, then shook his head in disbelief. “You are, aren’t you?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Oh, damn, we’re going to have fun.”

Shino frowned, the discomfort reaching a new level and making him feel like leaving. The Inuzuka was making him nervous, and the absence of his kikaichū was not helping the situation.

“I…what are you talking about?”

“Is there much to do around here?” Inuzuka questioned, coming closer, and continuing when Shino stepped back. “Because I have a great idea, and it involves you, me, and that brilliant invention over there.”

Shino looked to where Inuzuka’s thumb was crooked and flushed at the boy’s forwardness when he realized the boy’s intentions, “Are you playing with me?”

“Not yet, no,” Inuzuka was still smiling, and standing this close meant that Shino could see how long his fangs truly were. “You smell fantastic, you know that?” Inuzuka said, leaning close and inhaling deeply. “You’re cute, too. What’s with the get-up?” He tugged on Shino’s hood. “It’s like, 800 degrees in here.”

Shino didn’t explain that his fashion choice in trench coats and sunglasses were to both protect his kikaichū and shield himself from others, and then Kiba sniffed him again. Shino stilled, feeling both afraid and curious, wondering if the boy was being honest and if he really did want him. He had certainly insinuated as much. A hand landed on his hip and Shino startled at the contact, before Inuzuka chuckled at the movement, Shino feeling as if the red markings on Inuzuka’s cheeks were the same color as his own.

“Easy,” Inuzuka said, reaching up to brush his thumb over Shino’s bottom lip. “I just want to kiss you. Would that be alright? I’m a good kisser, if that worries you.”

“Why…” Shino trailed off, mouth dry at the suggestiveness of Inuzuka’s words. “Why would you want to do that?”

He thought of the fact that he had known this boy for the majority of ten minutes, and yet he felt a strange curl of want in his chest. The proximity of Inuzuka didn’t exactly compel him to feel otherwise, either. He was only human.

“Listen to yourself,” Inuzuka ‘tsk’ed, thumb still pressing into his bottom lip.

“You’re not actually going to,” Shino said, feeling as if he was asking instead of stating.

“I don’t know,” Inuzuka said with a raw honesty that Shino hadn’t seen before in anyone.

It was disarming. It was alluring.

“Do you want me to?”

Shino wasn’t sure. A moment ago, he would have said an irrevocable no. But now…now he was second-guessing himself. The brunet seemed to have sensed this, for his teeth were sharper when he smiled once more.

“I’m good. Promise.”

Shino opened his mouth to reply, shut it against words, and then Kiba suddenly moved away, returning to lean on the bedpost and hooking his thumbs back into the belt loops of his jeans.

Shino was about to question the change when his mother appeared in the doorway, quiet as ever, and Shino inwardly scolded himself for failing to have detected her presence earlier. Most likely he had been too wrapped up in answering Inuzuka’s demands to pay attention.

“Mother,” he said, voice strained.

“Shino,” his mother answered, smiling warmly at Inuzuka, who had taken to studying the floorboards. “I hope everything is to your liking, Kiba.”

“Huh?” Inuzuka said, before catching on that Shino’s mother was talking to him. “Oh! Right. Yeah! Yeah, this is fabulous, the bed’s fantastic, and your son is a perfect guide. Showed me the history about the floorboards and everything.”

If Shino’s mother was amused, she masked it very well, for she only nodded and answered, “That is good, then. Dinner is being served in a couple of minutes.”

“Great!” Inuzuka said enthusiastically. “That sounds _great_. I’m starving. We’ll be down in no time.”

Shino’s mother gave the two of them a small smile and left. They both stayed silent as her footfalls grew fainter, and when Shino could no longer hear them he spoke up, “Inuzuka—”

“Shh!” Inuzuka was across the room in a flash, hand tight over Shino’s mouth, head cocked, listening. Eventually he eased away, apologizing. “I’ve got much better hearing than you. Was worried she might have heard something she shouldn't.”

“Okay.” Shino nodded, knowing full well what the brunet was implying.

“Call me ‘Kiba’, too,” the brunet added. “Only my grandmother calls me by my last name, and it’s usually when she’s pissed off at me.”

“Kiba, then,” Shino acquiesced. “You weren't actually being serious before, were you?”

“Of course I was,” Kiba looked affronted. “You didn’t think I wasn’t, did you?”

Shino stayed silent and Kiba’s grin came back. He couldn’t stop smiling, it seemed.

Unwanted curiosity rose tentatively upwards, gnawed at Shino’s gut. It wasn’t wise to become involved in the type of activity that Kiba was suggesting, but he was so attractive, with those winking teeth and tight clothes that showed off his muscles in all the right places. Shino wasn’t sure when he would get the opportunity to be close to another person before his parents found him a wife.

He had no misgivings about the future that his parents expected of him; being the only son of the Aburame clan, he was to carry the family line, and Shino’s preference had no say in the matter. It wasn’t cruel, but it wasn’t exactly love either.

Necessity, Shino decided.

Kiba tilted his head, admitting, “I was being totally serious, you know. I’m, uh, kind of forward. Sorry?”

“What do you want?” Shino said slowly.

This was a terrible idea.

He steadied himself when the brunet leant in, but all that happened was Kiba whispering in his ear, "I want to know what your mouth tastes like. I want to find out what’s hiding underneath this ridiculous trench coat of yours. I want to see what’s behind those cute sunglasses of yours, and I’d absolutely  _love_ to know what you’d look like after I’ve dragged you through my bed.”

Shino, despite his usual reticence, swallowed, “You weren’t joking.”

“Nope.” Kiba said smugly. “All you gotta do is say ‘yes’.”

“Never,” Shino said vehemently, even though his face felt like it was on fire.

Kiba’s honesty simultaneously made him inquisitive and uncomfortable.

“I won’t,” Shino finished, but Kiba remained undeterred, and his head had already called him a liar.

“You will,” the brunet said confidently, and then sauntered out the room before Shino could formulate a reply.

+

Dinner was an interesting affair.

Their parents were locked in conversation together, and Shino occasionally picked up his name in the sentences floating between the adults, but he didn’t join. He was never one for conversation.

Kiba was seated next to Shino and seemed just as happy to do what Shino was doing, but his appetite was far more ruthless and he ate his way through the dinner the servants had made with little effort.

Shino watched him carefully in his periphery, mind still churning over their brief conversation beforehand. The brunet seemed to care little for his reputation, but Shino supposed he should expect that; he was an Inuzuka, after all.

A weight knocked into Shino’s knee at some point during the meal and he glanced up, straight at the brunet, confused.

Kiba winked, returned to his rice.

Shino was surprised the brunet knew how to use chopsticks—his eating habits were so wolfish.

Another knock against his knee and he felt a small burst of irritation, before it happened again.

“See?” Kiba muttered before Shino had the chance to object, his voice so low that Shino had to strain to hear it. “You already are.”

“I am _not,”_ Shino sniped, before flinching when he felt a hand on his knee, and the fingers holding his chopsticks slipped in their hold, dropping them.

The clatter they made upon hitting the floor caused his parents to look at them, and Kiba held up his hands in abashed surrender, “Sorry. My fault. By the way, it’s _great_ rice.”

Tsume gave him an exasperated look and Shino’s parents directed fond smiles at him, before returning to their conversation. Shino exhaled slowly and bent down to pick the chopsticks up, almost bumping his head on Kiba’s when he came up. The brunet was still smiling, and then the hand on Shino’s knee drifted up his thigh, Shino mastering his reflexes before he could kick out at the sudden burst of arousal zinging through him from the simple touch.

This was not…it was not right. It was wrong to be doing this, especially at the dinner table, of all things, and Shino was nothing if not honorable. It didn’t matter about his base needs; he had a reputation to uphold, unlike Kiba.

He was about to reprimand the brunet when Kiba’s hand shifted higher and he gulped instead, mortified at the brunet’s audacity, especially in front of their parents, and turned on at the same time; a foreign sensation, considering Shino did not touch himself that way, had never done so.

“Shino, tell us about your ANBU choices,” Tsume was saying. “Got to make sure Kiba knows what he’s working with in the future.”

Shino managed a weak smile, swallowed again when Kiba’s fingers started stroking, and then uttered an answer that he was sure both his parents would be pleased with.

Kiba’s hand stayed on him the entire time, stroking in small movements that weren’t quite enough to give Shino anything else other than frustration, and it was all he could do not to groan and bang his head against the table at how weak he was being by not shoving Kiba away, by not saying no, by not disliking the sensations rippling through him like bolts of electricity.

He needed to finish, actually.

+

Much later that night, when Shino’s parents and Kiba’s mother had retired to their rooms, Shino collapsed on his bed, mentally exhausted and in no mood to do anything other than sulk. He had told Kiba he would not say ‘yes’, and yet he had acted like a hound desperate for attention at the dinner table. It didn’t matter anyway; he refused to take himself into hand, because it just seemed uncouth to do so. He'd never done it anyway. He wouldn't know where to start.

Besides, Kiba knew of Shino’s inner battle, of course he did, the cocky bastard. Shino didn’t like him very much at the moment, and being teased throughout dinner had nothing to do with it.

His kikaichū were buzzing in their case, sensing his presence, and he reached out with his chakra to soothe them. The emptiness was no longer a gaping thing inside of him, but he was still aware of it at the same time.

His bedroom door cracked open and Kiba slipped in. The brunet's eyes were thinner than before, and his fangs glinted in the moonlight streaming through Shino’s undrawn window, as he had been too frustrated to do anything other than lying down.

He looked like an animal about to hunt.

Shino didn’t voice the groan that swam up his throat at the brunet’s appearance. He didn’t want to deal with him, especially after being fondled by him during dinner. That in itself should have been reason enough for him to hate the brunet, but instead of ordering him out like he should have, nothing came.

He narrowed his eyes, then blinked when he felt the same residual want from earlier claw at him in a fresh, much stronger wave, and he made a weird whimpering sound instead.

“I know, babe, I know,” Kiba said quietly, and then he was crossing the room, climbing onto the bed and settling down on Shino’s thighs.

“Kiba,” Shino shook his head.

He had responsibilities as the only son of his family; he wasn’t meant to like other boys, he wasn't supposed to be arching up into the weight on his legs, searching for release from a boy he had only met a few hours before. The urge was so strong, and it left him feeling unbalanced, scrabbling for some semblance of order.

“I know,” Kiba said again, and then he was placing hands on Shino’s face and bowing down.

Shino surged up to meet him, wanting it more than ever, confused when Kiba’s grip strengthened and Shino could not kiss him. “What?”

“Say ‘yes’, babe,” Kiba reminded him. “I won’t do anything until you do.”

“Come _on._ ” Shino growled, all previous musings of losing his dignity in acting like a hound barely scratching the surface of his thought process, and the brunet laughed softly.

“I know how reserved you Aburames are. I’m not about to deflower their only son without verbal consent.”

“Who says you’re deflowering me?” Shino gasped when Kiba shifted and the pressure against his erection turned to perfect.

“Maybe not tonight,” Kiba agreed, moving his hips again and pressing forward, before repeating the movement. “Not yet.”

 _Never_ , Shino wanted to say, but he had little faith in that opinion now. Kiba’s weight was pressing directly onto his groin, granting him both pain and pleasure at the same time, and Shino wished he could take his damned trousers off, or at least alleviate some of the pressure.

The brunet planted his hands on both sides of Shino’s head and rolled his hips down, grinning at the sound Shino made, “Gods, yeah, okay, you’re going to make me come in my pants, aren’t you?”

Shino bucked his hips up, unable to stop the cry that followed.

“Shh, babe,” Kiba hushed him. “You’re gonna have to be quiet if you want to keep this up.”

“Can’t,” Shino grunted, before thumping his head back on the mattress when Kiba stopped his hips from moving again. “Kiba…please.”

“Just say ‘yes’, babe and I will, I promise, I’ll make it good for you, okay? I just need you to tell me.”

“For Kami’s sake—” Shino hissed, feeling threads of his dignity stripping away. He was not going to beg; he was above that. “ _Yes,_ ” he finished.

Then there was a soft, wet something against his mouth, a persistent tongue against his teeth and a wonderful pressure against his erection. He floundered for a bit, staying still and letting Kiba do what he wanted until the brunet sat up and huffed, gripped Shino’s jaw and went back in. This time Shino studied the pattern of the brunet’s movements more closely until he gathered that he was meant to move his own mouth in synchronization.

In the end, Shino could only deduce that kissing, though awkward and messy, was enjoyable, if his growing arousal was any indication.

“Gods, took your time,” Kiba eventually groaned quietly, sitting up and fumbling with the buckles of his pants.

“No,” Shino protested, lifting his head, wanting Kiba to kiss him a little more.

“I know, I know,” Kiba soothed, pressing his mouth to the side of Shino’s face. “I’ll kiss you soon, babe, I will, I’ve just gotta get out of these damned pants—oh, look at you.”

Shino flushed when he realized what Kiba was talking about. Somewhere between Shino complaining and Kiba undoing his pants, the brunet had opened up Shino’s own pants and was now staring at his erection with a strange hunger that made something settle heavily in Shino’s stomach. Shino had always been shy, but this was even worse, having another person stare at his private parts so intently, and he flushed, looking away.

“Can I…” Kiba started, and then said, “fuck it, I can, can’t I?”

Then he wrapped a hand around the base of Shino’s erection, skimming upwards to grasp the foreskin before pulling it on the down stroke. The sound Shino made was unnatural, and so was the squirt of pre-come that followed.

Kiba smeared it over his palm and over Shino’s erection before stroking again, clumsily because of the angle, and Shino arched up, trying to capture Kiba’s lips. The brunet met him halfway, mouth opening against Shino’s and then Shino felt the brunet’s tongue lick the roof of his mouth. For a brief moment, Shino’s attentions focused to this, to the brunet lying on top of him, one arm bracketing his head whilst the other one worked between them, finding a rhythm as Shino left his hands up by his head, content to just lie there and let Kiba kiss him senseless.

Payback, Shino thought haphazardly after a time, seemed conventional in this situation, and he reached between them with one hand, searching around and finally linking fingers around Kiba’s own arousal. It was hot and heavy in his grasp, damp all over, and Shino gave an experimental stroke, finding it difficult to multitask when he had a glorious grasp around his erection and a mouth on his own.

“Hey, oi, babe,” Kiba pulled away to breathe, batting his hand away. “Not yet, not now, later, yeah? Later you can, I’ll let you, just not now, now’s about you.”

 _Alright,_ Shino went to say, but Kiba had returned to kissing him, and he was still stroking, after all this time.

The brunet was bucking against Shino in short sharp movements, as if he couldn’t stop himself, and the hand around Shino’s erection squeezed, before speeding up. Shino gasped as he felt himself tremble on some sort of precipice before Kiba bit into his neck and he fell through. His orgasm hit him like a train, and it was all Shino could do not to cry out, limbs spasming. Kiba kept moving his hand over him, even as stripes of white landed on him, keeping at it until it began to sting and Shino pushed at the brunet.

“Too much,” he mumbled and Kiba laughed softly and leant down to kiss him.

He tasted salty, and Shino was trying to decided whether the taste was pleasant or not before remembering seeing the brunet lick his hand and registering why there was saltiness in the first place.

“Gods, you’re hot like this,” Kiba muttered, licking Shino’s teeth. “What’re you like after fucking, huh?”

Shino went pink from the vulgarity of Kiba’s words, but he motioned to the brunet’s erection all the same, “What about you?”

“You don’t have to,” Kiba said immediately, and Shino pushed at him with heavy arms until the brunet was on his back.

He felt like sleeping, but he doubted falling asleep and leaving one’s sexual partner hanging was acceptable, so he willed some Aburame endurance into his limbs and stretched out next to Kiba, “Nonsense.”

Kiba chuckled, before inclining his head, “Get to it then.”

Shino went a little redder, and he avoided Kiba’s eyes in favor of looking at his erection. It jutted out proudly from a nest of dark pubic hair, and Kiba was unabashed, pushing a hand into Shino’s hair gently.

“You don’t actually have to.”

“Well I want to.” Shino replied, then took a moment to check that he had said that.

He did want to, but Kiba had no need to know that. He probably already knew anyway. Staying silent, he reached out and trickled his fingers through the curls at the base of Kiba’s erection, before moving upwards over the length of him.

“Whenever you like,” Kiba amended, but his voice was high and breathy.

Shino swallowed, fingers curling around the brunet’s length and squeezing like Kiba had done to him earlier. He had an inkling of what to do thanks to the brunet doing it to him before, but it was a little different feeling it being done than actually doing the deed himself.

“Gods, you’re a tease. I never picked you as that. I should have, shouldn’t I?” Kiba panted when Shino had done little more than test his stroking. “Babe, come on, I’m blue-balling here.”

“Sorry,” Shino commented, not sure if he really was apologetic, before daring to be confident and stroking more deliberately, secretly loving the strangled noise that issued itself from Kiba.

“Don’t be,” Kiba nodded quickly. “Wait, here,” he grabbed Shino’s palm and licked it generously, like—ironically—a dog. “It’ll make the slide easier— _shit_.”

Shino had already reached down again, stroking once more. The slide was definitely easier, but he felt there was room for improvement. However, he was too hesitant to do much else, so he shifted his grip until it was more secure.

“Is that alright?"

“Kami, yeah,” Kiba bit down on his fist. “You aren’t even trying, gods. I’m acting like some virginal teenager. You’re going to make me come in ten seconds if you keep this up.”

“I haven’t done anything,” Shino replied, concentrating on finding a rhythm and remembering to squeeze on the down stroke; Kiba seemed to respond best to that.

“You have,” Kiba refuted, hips moving up to press into the ring of Shino’s fingers before lowering and coming back again in a brutal rhythm. “Oh, you have, babe, you have, you just don’t know that you have. Gods, I’m just going to do this, okay?”

Shino confirmed it with a nod, tried to match the pace with his hand and found it incredibly hard with Kiba’s hips stuttering all over the place. When he came, Shino tried to catch it on his hand, lest he get it on his sheets and leave a questionable stain. He might not do it himself, but he certainly knew from when he was twelve what the come did to his bed sheets, and he didn’t want to raise any questions in his parents.

Kiba had an arm over his eyes, and Shino stared at him, hoping he was okay before looking at the white globs on his hand. Kiba had licked his own hand clean, and Shino hadn’t minded the taste of his own release, even though the thought was a little off-putting. This couldn’t be much different, surely. Cautiously, he raised his hand to his mouth and darted his tongue out to taste, finding it to be the same, albeit a little muskier. Regardless, it wasn’t horrible, and he took another lick, looking up when he heard Kiba curse.

“Fuck that’s hot,” the brunet breathed, before hooking his arms around Shino’s neck and kissing him again, tongue reaching in almost instantly.

To taste, Shino realized.

Eventually the frenzied kisses slowed and Kiba stopped altogether, looking at him and grinning. “Yeah?” he asked, and Shino nodded. “Good.”

Then he tucked himself back into his pants, Shino remembering that his own needed to be put away. He would go for a shower in the morning, because he was too tired now.

“You ever smile?” Kiba asked.

“Why should I?” Shino remained impassive, and the brunet stood, stooping down and slanting their mouths together.

“We’ll see. I’ll catch you in the morning, yeah?”

“Yes.” Shino responded and the brunet winked before slipping out.

The door clicked and Shino fell back on the bed, overwhelmed and trying to make sense of the past couple of hours, let alone what had just happened. He barely knew the boy, and his parents would be so disappointed if they ever found out.

Still, though…the reality of it was so appealing. It had no right to, but Shino couldn’t deny that fact; it made him feel rebellious. He wondered how far he could take it.

The kikaichū buzzed. He went to attend to them, making sure they were coping with the temporary environment change. A lone beetle flew to his finger and assured him that it was the case.

“What have I done?” he asked it gently.

It buzzed an answer.

“Do I continue? Because it’s a one-way path; no turning back.”

Another buzz of an answer.

Talking with bugs was always so much easier than conversing with humans; they didn’t require all the fanciful add-ons to sentences, like inflection. He studied the case of his kikaichū, taking in the way they were going about their business without a care in the world. It seemed his interactions with Kiba had not impacted the kikaichū. To be a bug, now, that would have been far more preferable, if not for the sudden appearance of the brunet dog-boy.

He sighed, one hand hovering over his mouth to touch it gingerly, a little giddy at the fact that he had done so much. He could still feel where Kiba had pressed his mouth to his cheekbones and nose and jaw and forehead, and when he licked his lips, he found they were slightly swollen.

Glancing at the closed door, he bit the inside of his cheek, refusing to acknowledge that the new feeling of emptiness in his chest was not the absence of the kikaichū.

They buzzed again.

He looked at the beetle on his finger and made up his mind.

+

Shino overslept the next morning, and he barely had time to eat the toast and eggs his mother handed him before he was out the door, running a few errands for his tutor, Ruka-sensei. His father was out with Kiba’s mother on a hunting trip, and Shino’s mother had explained that they were likely to be gone most of the day. He wouldn’t admit to jumping straight to thoughts of what he and Kiba could do in that amount of time. He would exercise more restraint.

Ruka-sensei gave him a funny look when she saw him, but she kept quiet and Shino completed the tasks in silence before leaving at eleven. He wondered if she knew, and then perished the thought; of course she didn’t.

Kiba was in the kitchen when he returned, sitting on the bench and swinging his legs as he munched on an apple. “Mornin’. Or afternoon; I’ve got no clue what time it is. Slept like a baby.”

“Eleven-twelve,” Shino provided, “Therefore morning.”

“Cool,” Kiba nodded. “You free this afternoon? You could give me a tour of your place. It’s giant here, like another planet.”

“You exaggerate,” Shino said, wishing he had his kikaichū to detect his mother’s presence more accurately. “It’s just a country house.”

“Mm,” Kiba hummed in agreement. “Plenty of room for exploring, though, eh now?”

“I suppose,” Shino said, because he didn’t think Kiba was talking about the house.

Kiba finished his apple and threw it at the bin on the other side of the kitchen, giving a whoop when it got in. “Don’t be such a sourpuss, babe.”

“I’m not,” Shino said, moving out of reach when Kiba tried grasping his hood.

“At least take this thing off. You’re making me hot just looking at you.”

“It’s autumn.”

“Yeah, but you’re dressed up for Antarctica.” Kiba returned, pulling him closer by the lapels of his jacket until he stood in-between Kiba’s knees.

“My mother…” Shino started and the brunet nodded.

“I know, babe, you want to keep it quiet, hey? I can do that.”

“Thank you,” Shino said gratefully, and Kiba fisted hands in his hair.

“That still means we can do shit though, yeah?”

Shino paused, hesitated, and then decided to throw caution to the wind. “Yes.”

“Great,” Kiba grinned, jumping down from the ledge and tugging Shino’s wrist. “Stop fussing, your mom’s in her room upstairs—I can smell, remember?”

Shino stopped fighting and went with him instead. He had a feeling Kiba was going to be the end of him somehow, but it was too late to back out now. He had already made up his mind the night before.

+

Shino’s household had many unused rooms. He had never seen them used for anything other than storage or that one ball his parents held two years ago to scout for future wives for him. Maybe his parents had planned on having more children than Shino, only they ran out of time or energy or decided Shino was enough.

He hated to think that he was the reason behind being an only child, but his parents never talked about it.

They found their way to one of the unused rooms, which was fully furnished with its own individual pieces to contrast with the uniformity that ran throughout the rest of the house. It was a common trait of the unused rooms that always made Shino ponder on the motivation behind his parents choosing the unused rooms to showcase their creativity. Perhaps he would finally ask them later on tonight. He was eighteen now; it seemed odd to think that they might deny him.

“Have a look at this,” Kiba announced, running over to the king-sized bed in the middle of the room and bouncing on it. “I’m having one of these when I move out.” He bent down into a crouch and beckoned at Shino, “Come on, stop standing over there. Come and help me test the buoyancy of this thing. Look at it, it’s massive.”

Shino did as Kiba asked, stepping onto the mattress and jumping with the brunet. It struck him as strange that there was no dust, but then he figured the servants had most likely put chakra protections over the furniture.

They were meticulous like that.

Eventually Kiba flopped down, Shino joining him, and the two of them stared at each other for a few moments before the brunet began to chuckle.

“What?” Shino asked, and Kiba gripped his arm and pulled until they were lying on their backs, shoulder to shoulder.

“Nothing,” he responded and Shino left it alone. “You know, we kept our clothes on last night.”

“We did,” Shino said, already having an idea where Kiba was going with this.

“I’m just saying,” the brunet shrugged.

“I see.”

“I told you I wanted to see underneath this coat of yours.”

“You did.”

Kiba stayed breathing for a period, and then he turned his head to look at Shino. Shino kept staring at the ceiling, almost gasping with relief when the brunet swung a leg over Shino’s and pressed their mouths together.

“Why am I doing all the work?” Kiba complained against his lips, but Shino wasn’t at a predisposition to answer, given the fact that the brunet’s mouth was doing wondrous things against his own.

“Why indeed,” Shino finally spoke and Kiba grunted and rolled onto his back, pulling Shino to hover over him.

“Don’t care anymore. Kiss me.”

Shino sighed and slotted his mouth against Kiba’s, hoping that his kissing wasn’t too atrocious. It wasn’t something he did everyday—hell, it wasn’t something he did, period—so his uncertainty was well placed. At least now there were no distractions like Kiba’s hand around him, and so he took his time, pondering on the softness of Kiba’s mouth beneath his and the strange sensation of pressing his tongue to the brunet’s every time Kiba licked him.

Like last night, there still appeared to a necessity for a rhythm, and it took him a couple of tries before he managed to synchronize the opening of Kiba’s mouth with his own and then follow it through. A hazed thought about dominance and body language in canines swam into his mind but it soon left when Kiba spread his knees and pulled Shino down until they were chest to chest.

He could worry about it later.

A moan swam between them when he settled fully on the brunet, Shino fairly sure that Kiba was the one who had uttered it, but not wanting to confirm that, lest it had been himself. He was sure he wouldn’t live it down if it was himself, as the brunet's capacity to find humor in everything seemed endless.

“Kiba?” Shino pulled back to ask, and the brunet stared up at him, hands running themselves through Shino’s hair.

“You ever going to smile?” he asked.

“Why should I?” Shino echoed.

“Are you ever going to take those sunglasses off then?” the brunet returned, teasing.

“No,” Shino shook his head and Kiba shrugged.

“Not yet,” he corrected. “Kiss me again. You’re good at that.”

Shino ignored the swell of happiness in him at hearing those words and leant down to do as Kiba wished, a little more confident as he pressed his lips to Kiba’s slightly-open mouth, “Like this?”

“What else?” Kiba’s words were harsh, but the brunet's grin softened the comment and he lifted his head, mouth nipping at Shino’s before closing over his completely and staying there for a long time.

His coat was suddenly too hot, and Shino doubted that the room’s temperature had much to do with it; he was aroused again, for the second time ever in his life apart from pubertal dreams, and he was—against his conscience—hoping Kiba would do to him what they did last night, because that had been…something Shino would consider repeating. Had considered repeating. Would repeat.

As if Kiba had read his thoughts, the brunet began to paw at his jacket, mumbling, “Take this thing off.”

“Why?” Shino asked, uncomfortable at the idea of someone other than himself seeing his bare skin, but Kiba wasn’t listening anyway, fingers working at the fastenings of Shino’s coat with a frightening efficiency that had Shino scrambling to stop the brunet. “No—Kiba, wait—”

The trench coat was undone though, regardless of Shino’s efforts for it to remain done up, and Kiba was pushing it off Shino’s shoulders, eyes following the movement before stopping when it was fully off and the skin on his arms was shown.

Shino swallowed, shut his eyes. Last night had been different, because they had been in the dark. Now, with the midday sun pouring in, it was impossible to hide.

It wasn’t that he hated his skin. He just didn’t particularly like it either. It was too pale, too abrasive, constantly being cut open and healed from the kikaichū, and the popular places of entry and exit were dotted with faint white scars.

When no insults or any instances where Kiba left were forthcoming, he dared to open his eyes.

Kiba was looking though, staring really, gaze skimming all over Shino’s skin like he didn’t know where to stop on, “Babe. Your skin’s…”

“Functional,” Shino said stiffly instead of voicing his true opinion of _ugly._

“I was going to say ‘pretty’, but that’ll work too, I guess.”

Kiba wouldn’t stop staring, and Shino was becoming more and more uncomfortable as the minutes passed, until finally he rose up to his hands and searched around for his trench coat.

“Whoa, whoa,” Kiba stopped him, hand wrapping around his wrist. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Shino opened his mouth to speak when he felt Kiba’s free hand touch his throat and then trail down to tuck into the collar of his t-shirt, “I have—I need to…”

Shino had a clue about what he was trying to say, but finishing was hard with the way Kiba’s thumb—the one holding his wrist—was rubbing circles into his skin.

“You’re going to leave?” Kiba asked, voice soft and low as he tugged at Shino’s collar. “And I haven’t even seen your chest. You _are_ a tease, babe.”

 _I’m not trying,_ Shino thought, feeling his cheeks brighten.

This was not good. Shino had never blushed in his life before the brunet, and he was quickly finding it a regular occurrence.

“Come on,” Kiba shifted beneath him, hands moving to grasp the hem of Shino’s shirt. “Up, up. I want to see—no, don’t hide. You’re beautiful.”

“Don’t, Kiba.”

The brunet gave him an exasperated look, “If I was lying, you’d know. Trust me. I’m a horrible liar.”

Still uncertain, Shino sat back on his heels and let Kiba lift the shirt all the way off. Then he didn’t have time to worry about covering his skin, because Kiba was leaning up and licking his way into Shino’s mouth, clothed chest pressing against Shino’s skin, warm, like the sheets beneath them.

“That’s not so bad, is it?” the brunet mumbled, angling his head and opening Shino’s mouth up more when he came back for another kiss.

Shino didn’t want to answer that, afraid he’d stuff up if he did, so he simply shook his head and kissed back, hands staying on Kiba’s shoulders. Safe territory, he had presumed, but he could feel the shift of muscles whenever Kiba moved, and he soon realized that Kiba was bucking his hips up to meet Shino’s.

“Oh,” Shino broke away, relieved that he hadn’t been the only one to be thinking along the same lines as last night.

Kiba laughed, “Do you want to stop? We can stop if you want.”

“No,” Shino said immediately, cringing at how eager he sounded. “No, this is…this is good.”

“More, then?” Kiba asked, the hand not propping himself up sliding from holding Shino’s jaw to ghost over his collarbone.

“If you want.”

“‘If I want’,” Kiba snorted, tilting forward and sealing his lips over Shino’s throat. “Of course I want. I always want. I want all the time.”

“Common courtesy,” Shino managed, nosing Kiba’s hair as the brunet sucked harshly.

“You Aburames, I swear,” Kiba spoke, licking a wet stripe up to Shino’s ear.

Shino’s breath hitched as he felt the brunet’s hand drop from his collarbone to ease over the front of his trousers, and suddenly he wanted them off, regardless of his insecurity about his skin. Kiba didn’t even ask; he undid the clasp of Shino’s trousers with deft hands and then pushed on Shino’s ribs.

“You’re going to have to get up, babe. I’m not _that_ amazing at getting someone’s pants off.”

Shino rolled his eyes and turned onto his back, arms locking around Kiba’s torso and pulling him on top.

“Someone’s impatient,” Kiba remarked, kissing Shino wetly.

“Just helping you out,” Shino amended, and, feeling bold, ran his hands up Kiba’s side, taking the brunet’s shirt with him.

“More confident, at least,” Kiba nodded, sitting up on Shino’s ribs to pull his shirt off.

“No,” Shino shook his head, staring up at the brunet.

Kiba could say what he wanted. Shino wasn’t beautiful, not with Kiba shirtless in front of him, tanned skin stretched over smooth muscles.

He reached up and rubbed his thumbs over the red markings on Kiba’s cheeks, and the brunet touched his fingers to the side of Shino’s glasses, asking quietly, “Sure these can’t come off?”

“Yes.”

“Not yet, then,” Kiba said regardless, and ducked down to press an open-mouthed kiss to Shino’s cheek.

He leaned back, running his hands down Shino’s chest, a funny smile settling on his lips as he met the waistband of Shino’s trousers and pulled them off fully, one hand reaching to grasp the tip of Shino’s erection lightly and thumb over the head.

“So I have an idea,” the brunet said conversationally, not doing more than sweeping his thumb up and down. “You should love it, but I just want to make sure.”

Shino hesitated, “What is it?”

“A blowjob, babe.” At Shino’s failure to nod, Kiba frowned and tapped the side of Shino’s sunglasses. “Can I _please_ take these off? It’s hard to read you with them on. I couldn’t read you last night as it is.”

“I…no.” Shino shook his head and Kiba sighed.

“ _Fine,_ you difficult thing who refuses to smile or take his sunglasses off. I’m uh, going to guess that you’ve never done anything like this, right?”

Shino faltered. Was he really that bad at this? But Kiba had said…

“Whoa, hey, no, babe, don’t take it the wrong way,” the brunet hushed him, kissing his cheekbone quickly. “You’ve been fantastic, but I just thought…well, I figured last night was probably your first time doing something like that.”

“I’ve never…” Shino started, and then he wondered how he was meant to tell Kiba that he hadn’t even taken himself into hand before the brunet without sounding crude. “You’re the only one who’s…” _Shown an interest._

Kiba blew out a breath, “Right. Okay. Awesome. That’s going to make things a lot easier.”

“What do you mean?” Shino’s brow furrowed when Kiba started moving off him.

“Shh, babe, just relax.” He added as an afterthought, “You’ll love it, don’t worry.”

The first thought Shino had was that he couldn’t relax, not with the absence of Kiba’s weight on him, reminding him that he was naked with his skin on display.

Then Kiba put his mouth on him.

Shino’s eyes flew open and his hips bucked up, only to be pushed back down by a strong hand.

“Kiba?” he asked uncertainly, mind emptying rapidly of anything other than _heat_ and _wet_. “What?”

The brunet hummed and Shino felt his erection become further engulfed in a hot grip. His eyes rolled back, hands latching onto the bed sheets beneath him and wrenching hard as the vibrations zipped through him and made the arousal in his groin become worse.

Kiba was—Kiba was actually doing—

“Isn’t this…” Shino tried, struggling to word his sentence, because every second sound that wanted to come out was a groan.

Then he felt what could only be Kiba’s tongue on the underside of his cock and he did groan.

Shino raised himself up on shaky elbows in time to see Kiba lift off, a thread of saliva string itself from his erection to Kiba’s lips, and the brunet smirked, “You ’right there?”

“I…” Shino started and then broke off when Kiba went back down on him and drew up almost immediately. “Isn’t this improper?”

Kiba looked up at him, then very deliberately stuck his tongue out and licked the tip of Shino’s erection slowly. “Maybe. Probably not. A blowjob’s a blowjob, babe.”

“So this is what a…”

“Yeah,” Kiba chuckled. “Told you you’d love it."

Shino felt himself flush, _again_. The brunet’s grin got impossibly wider and he pressed a kiss to Shino’s erection, making him go redder.

“Kami, you’re cute,” Kiba said appreciatively.

Shino had no reply and soon Kiba was taking the glans into his mouth, sucking gently before slowly increasing the pressure. Shino’s elbows gave way from underneath him and he hit the mattress. He needed to come. He was going to come, and soon, if the way his nerves kept singing were any indication.

It felt incredible, despite his inner embarrassment at the image of seeing Kiba’s head move up and down between his legs, not to mention the sounds. He was half-torn between wishing he had earbuds and reveling in the indecency.

A hand sneaked under each of Shino’s thighs, cupping the secret spot underneath his knees and pulling until his legs hooked over Kiba’s shoulders, the brunet not breaking his rhythm once. Shino shifted, uncomfortable at the feeling of being so exposed. It made him feel vulnerable.

He untangled fingers from the blanket and hovered over Kiba’s head, unsure.

“Can I?” he asked.

Kiba broke his rhythm and let Shino’s erection slip from his mouth, “Do what, babe?”

“I…” Shino began, startling when Kiba stroked his erection at a languid pace. “Can’t remember."

Kiba shrugged, kissed his hipbone and then pressed his tongue to the junction of Shino’s pelvis and inner thigh. “What’s up?"

“Can I—is this?” Shino swallowed and threaded his fingers through Kiba’s hair, the brunet giving him a lupine grin for his efforts.

“Look at you,” he said, running his lips up the side of Shino’s aching cock. “Still so reserved, even now.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Shino huffed, whimpering when Kiba sucked lightly on the foreskin.

“Not at all. Now. Let’s see how long this takes.”

The brunet took him in his mouth again, cheeks hollowing, wet noises becoming louder, and Shino spent his time praying to all the gods he could think of and thanking his Aburame genes for his ability to keep from yelling. Kiba appeared to like noise, but Shino was not about to let his voice loose, lest his mother hear from upstairs, and so he settled for squeezing his hands in Kiba’s hair whenever the urge to yell got too much.

“Kiba,” he cried out when the brunet pulled off to stroke him quickly, and then his eyes shot open as he felt himself coming, surprised and relieved at the same time.

It was a long while before he let himself calm down, and it took even longer for him to try and think of moving, dimly aware of Kiba shifting out from between his legs and straddling his chest, erection gripped in one hand.

“Can I?” Kiba pleaded and Shino nodded dazedly, not caring what the brunet had in mind.

He had a strange thought that maybe he owed Kiba a million plates of dango or something for the blowjob, and felt his cock twitch when he saw Kiba jerking off over him, toned chest heaving. Kiba moaned quietly when he finished, eyes closing, head tilting back, and Shino blinked when he felt the spurts of come land on his face.

“Oh,” he said softly, feeling a strange emotion settle in his stomach.

“Aren’t you pretty?” Kiba breathed, leaning forward and running his tongue up Shino’s cheekbone wetly. “Sorry ’bout the mess. I’ll clean it up.”

“Okay,” Shino answered, eyes drifting shut.

“You falling asleep on me, babe?” Kiba’s voice was distant. “That’s alright, I’ll look after you, hey."

Shino nodded and let himself doze.

+

It was getting dark when Shino roused.

He went to sit up, only to be stopped by a heavy weight on his chest, and it took him a moment to realize that it was Kiba. The brunet was fast asleep, snoring softly, curled over Shino like a blanket.

He looked around, noting the light outside the window and figuring it must have been somewhere around six. His father would be home right about now.

Shifting slightly, he searched for his clothes, finding his jacket and shirt on the far end of the bed. His trousers were most likely on the floor.

“Kiba,” he nudged the brunet gently, smiling a little when Kiba gave a sleepy protest and slumped more heavily on him.

Strange, given that he rarely, if ever, smiled.

Another sleepy protest.

Shino retried, “Kiba, get up. Our parents will be home soon.”

“What?” the brunet mumbled sleepily, before shooting into a sitting position suddenly. “Shit! What’s the time?”

“Around six,” Shino shrugged, taking advantage of Kiba’s absence and locating his trousers, tugging them on hastily, feeling exposed now that they weren’t doing…well, now that they had just been sleeping. “Come on.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kiba agreed hurriedly, running one hand through his hair before pulling on his own trousers. “Fuck, sorry. Fell asleep.”

“I noticed.”

Kiba stuck his tongue out at him and tugged his shirt on, Shino catching himself staring at the ripple of the brunet’s abdominal muscles. _That_ thought tangent was not safe at the moment. He pulled his own shirt on.

Kiba sighed, yawned, then stretched and turned to Shino, “Well. Have at ’em, I guess.”

Shino didn’t really understand the brunet’s words, but he stood and followed the brunet, startling when he was stopped in the doorway with a kiss on the mouth.

“Another time, yeah?” Kiba winked, leaving.

Shino swallowed. Kiba was definitely going to be the end of him.

+

Kiba bounced into his room the next day when Shino returned from doing his duties for Ruka-sensei, heading straight for Shino’s bed and flopping down onto it, reminding him of an eager puppy.

“What’s up?” the brunet said straight off the bat, jumping to his feet when he caught sight of the kikaichū in their case. “Ooh, what’s this?”

Shino cut him off before the brunet could get too close, explaining, “My kikaichū.”

“Awesome,” Kiba’s grin was infectious, but Shino only allowed the brunet a small smile from himself.

He stared at him nonetheless. Then he kissed him.

“Look at you,” the brunet licked his mouth. “Smiling, for once. Should do it more often, babe. It’s a good look on you.”

“Is it?”

Shino didn’t kiss the brunet back, no matter how much he wanted to. Their parents were out, but it didn’t mean he was going to abuse their instructions of ‘take care of Kiba’.

The brunet looked at the case again, “Kikaichū, huh?”

“ _Hai_.”

“You’re a tokubetsu too.” Kiba was still grinning. “Like me, just with bugs instead. Mom said something about that.”

Shino frowned at the somewhat crude comparison. Kiba’s future was with canines, whereas his own was a far more intellectual technique.

“I suppose.”

“Suppose all you want,” the brunet rolled his eyes, and Shino detected another streak of the brunet’s ego. “They’re cool, but Akamaru’s better.”

“Akamaru?” Shino checked his memory banks, trying to remember if the name had been mentioned before.

“My dog,” Kiba was peering at the case, head tilted in curiosity. “I wanted him to come, but he’s too big.”

Shino edged closer, gathering the new information and storing it away in his mental folder that he’d dubbed ‘Kiba’. “How big?”

The brunet raised his hand to the size of a small pony, “’Bout this high. I know right? He’s giant. You should have seen him when he was a puppy.”

Shino felt another smile creep onto his face at the fondness in Kiba’s tone, and when the brunet saw it, Shino got kissed again.

“Do you like it when I smile?” he said when the brunet stopped. “Because you keep kissing me. Kissing is a display of affection. We aren’t doing anything.”

Kiba was incredulous, and amused, “Do you really want me to answer your question after you’ve justified it?”

“Not really.” Shino paused, then wondered if he could ask Kiba about Akamaru again.

If Kiba liked his smile, then Shino liked the brunet’s fondness. It made his eyes soften, the sharp fangs tilt into a less fearsome angle, and his tone morph into something a little less like he had to prove something.

“I interrupted you,” he said gently.

“What? Oh, right. Really? You want to hear about Akamaru?”

Shino shrugged, “Unless you preferred that I didn’t.”

“No, no, just. I figured…uh, I didn’t think you’d be interested. My sister can’t stand it, but she can’t talk because she’s got two of her own and loves them to bits.”

“She’s studying, isn’t she?”

Kiba nodded.

Shino chewed the inside of his cheek, “What’s it like, having a sibling?”

“I’d ask you the same about having none,” Kiba returned, smile wide. “Nah, it’s alright. Ninety percent of the time you feel like slamming their head into a wall because they piss the shit out of you.” The brunet shrugged, “But the rest of the time…the rest of the time they’re really great.”

Shino tried to grasp the concept and found it difficult. “So you’re never lonely?”

“Are you?”

Shino thought about it, “I don’t know. A little.”

Kiba observed the kikaichū in their case, “I’ve got Akamaru to keep me company, so I don’t know if I should say yes or no. I guess not, but it depends on whether you’re close to your siblings or not.”

“Are you close?”

Kiba ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah, I guess. She’s getting like my mom though.”

“Which is?”

“Somewhat scary,” Kiba admitted. He didn’t speak for a short time, but when he did, the question was soft and unhurried, “How come you don’t have any brothers or sisters?”

In that moment, Shino wanted to know why. He wanted to talk to his parents and gain answers of why he was all alone in this giant house with only his bugs. The kikaichū were meant to be companions, but Shino wanted more, because siblings sounded fun, in a strange sort of way. There appeared to be camaraderie between Kiba and his sister, and Shino decided that it seemed valid to extrapolate the notion to other relationships.

“I don’t know,” he said eventually. “I’ve never asked.”

“But you’ve obviously thought about it.”

Shino hesitated, “Yes.”

Kiba scratched his head, rubbed his nose and patted him on the shoulder in a way that didn’t feel condescending. “S’okay. Siblings can be overrated most of the time anyway.” He tucked his hands into his pockets and appraised Shino, “You’ve got friends though, surely.”

Shino shook his head, “People usually don’t like my kikaichū.”

The brunet made a face, “But they’re cool! They live inside you, man. Wait, don’t they? Like your parents, right?”

Shino shifted his stance to a more guarded one, “Yes. But they’re in the case now. Because you and your mother are visiting. I was to…babysit. Less distractions.”

Kiba’s eyes lit up in understanding, “Those small scars. That’s why you’ve got them, hey?”

“Yes.”

The brunet turned to the kikaichū, telling them, “You sure know how to make a guy pretty.”

Shino found being described as ‘pretty’ a little aversive, but Kiba was also telling him that he liked his scars, and if the brunet liked both his scars and his smile, then who was he to argue?

Still, he couldn’t help saying, “They’re only scars, Kiba. No need to romanticize them.”

“I’m not romanticizing anything,” the brunet shot back. “I told you I was a terrible liar yesterday, didn’t I?”

“So you did.”

“Listen to yourself,” Kiba muttered, reaching out before Shino could think of moving away and pulling his coat open.

Shino let him open the next vest, and then pull up the undershirt, aware of his kikaichū detecting the slight stress of the atmosphere. He didn’t want to aggravate them, especially in their foreign environment. He just wished they would remain impassive, like the other night.

“Look,” the brunet stabbed a finger at his speckled chest.

“At what?” Shino challenged.

“ _This,_ ” Kiba splayed a palm over a patch of skin that had more scars than the rest, his movements angry. “Look at the contrast,” he said, voice easing. “It’s awesome.”

“It’s abnormal.”

“ _I_ like it. It’s dappled. Like a pony.”

Shino felt a flare of happiness, pleased at Kiba’s comment, before he shook his head. It was easy for Kiba to say that; he wasn’t the perfectionist.

“I’ll consider your opinion,” he said conclusively, pulling his shirt back down. He didn’t redo his buttons. “But for now, my perception of it remains the same.”

“You’re blind,” Kiba argued.

Kiba’s offended expression shouldn’t have been humorous, but Shino smiled anyway.

“Oh fuck,” the brunet's voice was faint, and Shino got kissed again.

“You really like it, don’t you?” Shino teased.

The brunet growled in response, “Shut _up_ , you bastard.”

Then he was on him again, hands grasping Shino’s face before slipping down to his neck, panning over his chest to settle on his ribs and squeeze, hard. Shino inhaled sharply, pressing back against Kiba’s mouth and feeling his lips quirk up when the brunet groaned softly.

They kissed until Shino’s lips began to get clumsy and noncommittal, and Kiba couldn’t seem to know where to put his hands, resting them on Shino’s shoulders before curling on his chest and then drifting down, tucking themselves into the waistband of Shino’s trousers.

Shino pulled back, wondering if the brunet planned to take it any further, but Kiba’s hands stayed put, and he decided that he was as happy to do this as was to do other things; probably because it was Kiba who was doing it with him.

The kikaichū were not relaxed, but they were getting there, and Shino tried to keep a part of his mind on them as the brunet began to rut against him, slowly, but determined nonetheless.

“Do you want to…?” Shino began, hands lingering on the band of Kiba’s trousers.

Then he took charge himself, forgoing Kiba’s answer and walking the brunet backwards towards his bed, because if they were going to do anything, then he was going to be somewhat civilized at least and not let the brunet do it on his floor.

Kiba made a questioning noise when his knees hit the edge of Shino’s mattress, and then Shino gave him a gentle shove, humored at the indignant squawk that Kiba sounded.

“Little warning next time?” the brunet scowled.

Shino shrugged, “My apologies.”

The brunet pulled him down, “You’re not sorry at all.”

“No,” Shino affirmed, and then smiled before he could help himself.

Kiba had a funny look on his face, but he stayed quiet and licked Shino’s mouth, seeking. Lying down more fully on the brunet, Shino took Kiba’s face in his hands. He had a strange thought of what Kiba would do if he challenged his dominance, curious to see if the brunet lived up to his canine ties, but he found himself too content to remain as they were.

“You’re a quick learner,” Kiba mumbled, kisses soft and sleepy, regardless of his rolling hips.

“You must be a good teacher, then,” Shino answered, and Kiba smiled.

The brunet was still circling his hips, but he hadn’t bothered to do anything more than keep his mouth attached to Shino’s, so Shino figured that he should leave alone any thoughts of furthering their current position. Instead, he pressed a kiss to the brunet’s cheek, at the top of the red triangular mark, and then chuckled softly when Kiba made a face.

“Kami, you laugh?” the brunet raised a brow.

It was Shino’s turn to make a face, “I’m not a kikachū, if that’s what you’re implying.”

Kiba shook his head, “I wasn’t. I just…why are you never happy?”

“I am.”

“You never show it.”

Shino frowned. This was why he didn’t understand humans; they constantly needed reassurance in the form of blatant displays. Bugs just detected your pheromones and left it at that.

“So what if I do not show my happiness. Why? Because there is no need to display what is already known.”

“Kami,” Kiba grinned, then laughed softly. “I really like you, you know.”

Shino pulled back even more. The news was ridiculously pleasing, and when he smiled again, Kiba’s mouth managed to get to his.

“If you’re like this when I smile,” Shino mused. “Then what were you like when I laughed?”

Kiba socks him on the arm, “Don’t be a dick. You know I loved it.”

“I thought as much,” Shino smirks, before recalling their current position and the usual order of things in this situation. “Do you want to do anything?” he asked, trailing one hand down to press gently against Kiba’s groin, surprising himself at his forwardness.

Kiba’s grin was wicked, but he didn’t move to meet the pressure more fully, saying, “What do you want?”

“I don’t mind.”

The brunet carefully licked his way into Shino’s mouth, soft and slow, “Let’s just do this, yeah? You alright with that?”

“Anything,” Shino promised.

He wondered how dangerous their situation was as Kiba kissed him a little more before falling asleep, arms slung around him, possessive. He decided he didn’t particularly give a damn, and he would worry about his lack of siblings later.

+

As it was, he didn’t see Kiba the next day, mostly because he slept for the majority of it. Surprising, considering he was one for always being up at dawn to train and do his duties. However, it was his day off, and his mind was still reeling from his activities and conversation with Kiba, so he supposed it was fair call.

There had do be a rest time somewhere in there, and his brain was full of musings.

He had dragged himself out of bed when his mother asked him down to dinner, and by then he had managed to do more than nod quickly at whatever his family directed at him. Kiba had been seated next to him, trying to catch his eye, but Shino had refused to meet his gaze, knowing that to do so would have probably resulted in him doing something incredibly stupid, like kissing the brunet or something. He couldn’t have afforded to do that, especially in front of his parents.

He could pretend that he hadn’t felt Kiba’s gaze on him the entire time.

The downside of him sleeping all day meant that Shino was too awake; it was coming on two in the morning and he couldn’t sleep.

He wondered if Kiba was still awake, and then squashed the thought before it could manifest any further. That was dangerous territory to be in. But still…he _had_ heard commotion in the room a little under an hour ago.

He was up before he realized, bare feet stepping across the floor until he reached the door. His parents and Kiba’s mother had retired some hours earlier, and the house was darker than ever thanks to the thick drapes his parents swore by.

He cracked open his door slowly, careful to step over the creaky spot on the threshold and closing his door behind him. It didn’t enter his mind that perhaps Kiba was asleep, only that he needed to see the brunet.

The door was not locked.

 _Foolish Inuzuka_ , Shino thought wryly, before hushing his thoughts as he closed the door behind him.

There was movement in front of him, shuffling sheets.

“Shino?” Kiba’s voice, sleepy but on guard all the same.

He stepped forward and nodded, belatedly realizing that the brunet probably wouldn’t have seen it, and he answered, “Yes.”

A quiet, disbelieving laugh came from the brunet, and he crawled over, sheets slipping off as he grabbed Shino and pulled him into a kiss, groaning happily. Shino felt absurdly happy at the reception, trying to make as little noise as possible but wanting to give as good as he got.

They kissed until Shino’s lips felt swollen, Kiba pulling back and rubbing the space behind Shino's ears with his thumbs, “What happened to you today? Thought you’d gone and died on me or something.”

“You’re not that good,” Shino said, ears pink as he said it.

“Maybe not,” Kiba shrugged, sitting back, frog-leg style. “What’re you doing here?”

“I missed you,” Shino said truthfully. “I’m sorry about dinner.”

“I know, babe,” Kiba nodded, rubbing his nose. “I figured as much.”

They stayed in silence for a short while, Shino wanting to kiss the brunet but also not knowing if doing so was crossing some unknown border. He doubted it. He had done much more, after all. However. Situations like this required tactfulness. He stayed silent and observed the brunet. Gods, he was beautiful. All that smooth, unmarred skin and the strong muscles everywhere.

He reached out, unthinking, as he placed a hand over Kiba’s shoulder and let it drift down his chest. “Did you…what do you want to do?”

The grin Kiba gave him was dangerous, “Do you need to ask?”

Shino pushed his glasses up his nose further, “I suppose not. Our parents are an issue, though.”

“Anywhere we can go?”

Well…there was the same room they were in the other day. Shino thought it over, then decided that it was possibly not the best idea to use the same room twice, especially since the other had the residual smell of sex. It probably wouldn’t do to find another one either, without raising more questions.

There was outside, he supposed. Being autumn, it wouldn’t be the warmest, but it was doable, and the grass at the bottom of the hill was long enough to hide in. He made up his mind.

“Outside, yes,” Shino nodded, standing and motioning to Kiba to do the same.

Kiba stood and kissed him quickly, following Shino as he opened the brunet’s door to the balcony and eased out. The moon was golden, a harvest moon, and Shino regretted not bringing his trench coat as the autumnal breeze nipped at him, cold and unforgiving. Kiba had made him too confident.

He waited for any sign of their parents stirring, then leapt off into the shadows.

Kiba didn’t follow.

He panicked, looking up at the brunet’s balcony, before frowning when Kiba reappeared after a few moments, jumping down to join him.

He didn’t dare speak yet, so he sent the brunet a questioning look.

Kiba waved at him dismissively.

They went on.

Eventually they reached the hill, Shino looking back. The house was far away now, a sleeping giant in the distance, and Kiba laughed suddenly, dragging Shino in to kiss.Shino did, hands clumsy as they tried undoing Kiba’s pants, and the two of them fell to the ground in a heap.

Kiba was more proficient in the art of undoing trousers and he got both of theirs off once he’d thrown his shirt somewhere, humming happily as he kissed Shino. He had a hand wrapped around Shino’s length, strokes noncommittal but still good, and he tapped his glasses.

“Take these off?” he asked and Shino shook his head out of habit.

“Not yet,” he said, the words sounding strange coming from his own mouth instead of Kiba’s, and the brunet shrugged.

“Alright,” the brunet said, then sealed their mouths together long enough to make Shino need to breathe. “What’s the time?” Kiba murmured when he eased away, kisses soft.

“Two-thirty,” Shino answered.

“You weren't wearing your jacket,” Kiba ran his hands up Shino’s arms, finding his chest and spreading his fingers. “I liked it.”

Shino smiled, pleased, and he rose up onto his forearms, bending to kiss Kiba again carefully. The brunet’s mouth was soft and pliant in contrast to the dominant one Shino had been met with the day before, and he took his time, taking Kiba’s top lip between his and sucking gently.

“Smile for me?” the brunet questioned gently.

Shino couldn’t have stopped himself if he had tried, and the softening of Kiba’s eyes was worth it.

The brunet seemed content to lie there, rutting up into Shino as he kissed him, and it struck Shino as amusing, the fact that he was lying naked in a meadow at some ungodly hour of the morning with the most beautiful person he had ever met.

“What?” Kiba asked when Shino started to chuckle, and he shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.”

Kiba said an unconvinced  _hn_ and kissed him again, Shino letting himself get carried away for a little longer. He could feel Kiba’s erection digging into his hip and shifted his weight to one arm to reach between them, taking in the expression of surprise on Kiba’s face when he curled fingers around him, tugging lightly.

“Never thought you’d take the initiative, babe,” the brunet managed, biting on his lip and moaning softly.

Shino said nothing, catching the next blurt of precome in his palm and using it to ease the friction. He kept his movements slow, as Kiba had seemed to respond best to that last time, even if he had been too impatient to follow it through until the end.

“Gods, take your time why don’t you,” the brunet huffed and Shino smiled, pressed a kiss to Kiba’s left pectoral, right above his pulse. “It’ll take me forever to finish like this.”

“I want that,” Shino told him, and the look the brunet gave him in return made the arousal flare stronger in his gut.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kiba nodded. “Whatever you want.”

Shino returned to the task at hand, sweeping his thumb over the head and catching another droplet. Kiba’s breath was uneven, and he groaned when Shino went even slower, tightening his grip.

“Babe,” he whined and Shino shook his head.

He wasn’t nearly half as experienced as Kiba was at this, but as the brunet said, he was a quick learner. He wanted this, wanted Kiba to fall to pieces from a few simple touches, and the brunet’s positive reactions were only fueling his desire to know how.

The brunet whimpered when he squeezed on the next down stroke, and bucked his hips, fist hitting the ground next to him, “Seriously?”

Shino looked at him, “What?”

Kiba growled and pulled him in by the nape of his neck. The kiss was harsh, a reprimand, and Shino winced when the brunet pulled away, running his tongue over his teeth. They hurt a little.

“I’m not going to fall to pieces or anything.”

“I know.”

“Fucking do it then,” Kiba snapped and Shino frowned.

“Do you want to stop?” he asked and Kiba stared at him, incredulous, before laughing.

“Oh my gods,” he hiccupped, wrapping his arms around Shino’s neck and holding him close. “I just…never mind. You know what? Let’s do this differently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sex, babe. You know how, right?”

“As in…” Shino trailed off, embarrassed.

He knew the basics, of course. His father had explained as much when Shino had come of age, and the talk had left the two of them coming to a mutual agreement to pretend it never happened. Since then Shino had done little to find out more of that subject, choosing to save the learning experience for the girl he was to marry.

But how they could do it anyway? They were both male, they didn’t have…

“Oh,” he said in realization and Kiba reached up, rubbed the area behind his ears.

“Oh, baby, you have no idea, do you?”

“I do,” Shino said defensively and Kiba snorted. “I just…I don’t know if I want to…”

 _Lies!_ his brain screamed unhelpfully. His father had never said that sex was enjoyable, only that it was necessary in a marriage, and here was Kiba, offering himself up willingly after letting Shino experience so much. The end result was Shino finding it difficult remembering that he was to save himself for when he was betrothed after he turned nineteen.

“It’ll feel good,” the brunet coaxed. “Trust me. It’ll feel like…like everything I’ve done with you up until now is nothing.”

Shino’s cock twitched. “Really?”

Kiba’s laugh was more of a bark, “I’ve never had to persuade someone to have sex before.”

“I’m supposed to…” Shino started, and then stopped.

Kiba was the most beautiful person he had ever met, and Shino didn’t know if he would ever have this opportunity. His future wife would be nice, certainly, and Shino would love her dutifully, but that wasn’t now.

He wanted Kiba.

“We don’t have to,” Kiba said slowly. “Hell, knowing you Aburames, you’ve probably got some bug girlfriend lined up, waiting to marry you.”

“No,” Shino shook his head. “No, I want. I want this. You.”

Kiba’s teeth glinted, “Alright. Pass me my trousers.”

Puzzled, he did as the brunet asked, letting go of his erection and fetching the trousers before passing them over. Kiba took them and rummaged around in the pockets before he held up a small vial.

“You okay with this?” he asked, laughing some more when Shino didn’t answer him. “Do I really need to explain this?"

“Yes.”

Kiba sighed, spread some of the liquid from the vial in his palm and took Shino’s hand. “You’ve got to get something for the slide, yeah? It’s not like with girls where it’s there naturally.”

As he spoke, he rubbed his fingers through Shino’s, coating it liberally with the oil until Shino’s hand was dripping. Then he let go, nodding at Shino to take the lead.

“What do I do?”

“Use your fingers, babe.”

Shino went red and Kiba cooed. He knew what to do now, and the experience was daunting. Hands weren’t meant to go there, and yet…Kiba had said it would feel good, better than the last time.

“Will it hurt?” he checked and Kiba shook his head.

“Not if you listen to me, no.”

“Sure?”

Kiba blew out a breath, pushing Shino onto his back and holding out his hand, “Give it here. I’ll do it myself.”

Shino watched as Kiba slicked his own hand up, and then went still as Kiba pressed a finger into himself, going slower than when Shino had been stroking the brunet. 

“Oh. I thought…” _You wanted me to be it._

“Nah, babe,” Kiba’s smile was still wide, though a little lax at the edges. “This one’s all mine.”

Shino swallowed his relief and observed the brunet’s actions. When Kiba pressed in a second time, his head fell back, and Shino felt another punch of arousal. Whatever the brunet was feeling, it looked amazing. His breaths were labored as he kept up the pace, finger moving in and out of him slowly.

Curious, Shino reached up, shy, but wanting to do that to Kiba himself, wanting to have the brunet so lost in his pleasure thanks to him.

Kiba opened his eyes at the touch of Shino’s finger, and he nodded, “You want to help? Yeah, ’kay.”

Sliding his finger out completely, he took Shino’s hand in his and aligned their pointers, inserting them into himself. Shino's breath came out in a shudder as he felt his finger become enclosed in the tight heat, following Kiba’s own until it pressed against the wall of Kiba’s insides and the brunet jumped.

“Is that…that feels good, doesn’t it?” he asked and Kiba nodded, moving their fingers in and out in the same rhythm as before.

Shino pressed up again and Kiba moaned this time, loudly. Feeling braver now, Shino withdrew their fingers, barely giving Kiba time before he pushed back in with his own two fingers, drinking in the blank expression on Kiba’s face. He looked torn between being surprised and aroused, and Shino pressed to the same spot, reveling in the strangled noise Kiba made. He thrust slowly, savoring the leisurely pace and wishing he could take Kiba’s expressions and lock them away somewhere.

The brunet was clearly in sensory overload, and Shino felt ridiculously happy that he was the cause of it, fingers a long slow stroke inside him. Eventually he added a third finger, easing it in with the same care as when he introduced the first one, and Kiba groaned, rocking his hips back. It made Shino feel rebellious, thinking of his current position and his previous life that he’d spent talking to his kikaichū and training; this was a much preferable one, and he thrust his fingers in a little harsher, making sure he struck that spot inside Kiba that made him dig his nails into Shino’s ribs.

“Kami. Gods, okay.” Kiba nodded, panted, then rolled his hips down to meet Shino’s fingers and gasped. “Why did I wait so long?”

“Wait?”

“To have you, babe,” Kiba explained, lifting until Shino removed his fingers. “Should have done it on the first night. Gods, we should have.”

“Are we going to…?” Shino asked when Kiba settled himself above Shino’s erection.

“You still want this?” he checked.

Answering in the negative didn’t even cross Shino’s mind. He nodded quickly and followed Kiba’s instruction to hold the brunet’s hips as he grasped Shino’s cock and pressed it to him, sinking down in slow increments.

It took time.

Halfway down, Kiba’s eyes fluttered shut, his mouth opening on a groan that never came. Shino lost track of how long it took, too preoccupied with multitasking. The first task was trying not to come, a giant feat with the snugness and heat of Kiba’s insides around his erection that made him want to thrust up and take, were it not for the slow nature of Kiba’s movements. The time factor must have been important if Kiba was choosing not to rush for once, and Shino was accommodating, even though every progression made by Kiba made Shino want to bite his fist at the thrills shooting up his spine. The other thing that kept him occupied was drinking in the expressions on Kiba’s face: the slight wrinkle of his brow, the mindless slackness of his mouth that Shino wanted to kiss, the unsteady heave of Kiba’s chest, and the trembling of his thighs.

He _wanted_.

Eventually Kiba settled, meeting Shino’s hips, and he opened his eyes, a lazy grin on his face, “Feel good?”

Shino gave an undignified noise in response, unable to form anything less basic. Kiba’s laugh was husky, and he leant forward, kissing him.

“Go on,” he said teasingly, biting down on Shino’s bottom lip. “I won’t _break_.”

Shino swallowed, then followed his instincts and canted his hips up, testing the waters. Kiba made a small _uhn_ sound at the movement, then moved his hips back when Shino left the space, grinning. Shino did it again, and Kiba did the same, meeting him.

They picked up a rhythm, Shino knowing that he wasn’t going to last, too caught up in the way his nerves were lightning bolts, sensitive all over as he thrust up into the hot channel, mindless. There were no thoughts, only feelings and sensations and the constant urge to take.

Kiba looked close as well, and he reached out to tap Shino’s glasses, voice high and breathy, “Take these off? Please? I want to see all of you.”

Shino hesitated for a bare moment, decided that right now the brunet could have the moon if he so wished it, and nodded quickly. The brunet’s response was instantaneous, and Shino blinked when his glasses left his face, unused to feeling the air on his eyes.

He couldn’t keep from blinking.

It felt strange.

They had stopped moving, somewhat. Shino’s hips still bucked up slightly, because it was hard to keep them from doing that, but Kiba was preoccupied with staring at Shino.

“What?” Shino asked softly, a little irritable, but it was more from the fact that Kiba wasn’t continuing their activities than the blatant appraisal, though that was fairly daunting as well.

Kiba was very quiet, hands reaching out to touch the soft part underneath Shino’s eyes. “Holy shit.”

“They’re…” Shino started, heart beating super fast in his throat, and it wasn’t because of the sex.

His eyes were the only part of him that he liked, molten gold, like a scarab beetle’s wings. They were the same shape as his father’s, but a slightly lighter shade, and allowed the kikaichū to recognize him as their master. Exposing them to the sunlight hurt though, and Shino never took his sunglasses off because of it. Besides, people used to stare at him, like he was a freak show, and the addition of his skin and bugs and weird fashion sense only made him even more of an outcast.

“By the gods,” Kiba said, breathless, thumbs rubbing the corners. “How can you not think you’re attractive, at the very least?”

Shino shrugged, uncomfortable. Kiba could say what he wanted to. He was the beautiful one here, not Shino.

“Can we?” he asked, desperate to move on, and Kiba chuckled.

“Of course, babe,” he said. “I just… _fuck._ ”

He started to move then, undulating his hips and Shino joined him eventually, feeling exposed. Kiba wouldn’t stop looking at him, keeping their gaze, and when Shino tried breaking it the brunet stopped him, pleading, _don’t, babe, let me look at you, gods you’re pretty, just keep looking at me like that_.

Gradually he ignored the panic rising in his throat, and the urge to run and hide, becoming enraptured with Kiba’s facial expressions again. They were both sweating and it was making everything slippery, made worse by the long grass they were on. Kiba was clenching around him on every thrust, groaning loudly and making silly promises, like blowing Shino for a year afterwards.

Shino wasn’t sure he would live through the current experience.

“Shit—fuck— _Shino_ —” Kiba stuttered, and then shock stole over his face as he came, striping Shino’s chest with liquid heat as he fell forward onto his hands.

His insides clenched harder than ever around Shino and that made him follow, mind going blank as he finished, erection pulsing, vision blurring.

When Shino finally dragged himself away from the abyss of sensations, Kiba was still on him, still around him, breath calming down.

“Hey,” the brunet said weakly.

His glasses were still off too, and Kiba’s gaze felt like he was staring straight into Shino’s soul. It unnerved him, how easy it was to accept that fact.

“Did I hurt you?” Shino asked, worried, and Kiba shook his head.

“Nuh,” he grinned.

The brunet lifted up, off Shino’s now soft cock, collapsing onto his stomach next to him and groaning happily. Shino paused, then leant over and pressed a butterfly kiss to Kiba’s scapula, rubbing the brunet’s elbow.

“Don’t go to sleep on me,” he warned and Kiba lifted his head, kissed him lazily.

“But I want to.”

Shino glanced at the lightening sky around them. Moonset was almost upon them, and with it was the arrival of the sun. He winced; he didn’t want his eyes to hurt. Kiba was kissing him though, hard, as if he wanted to go again, and Shino groaned at the thought. As enticing as it was, he didn’t think his stamina was _that_ good.

“What?” Kiba asked.

“I just…” Shino broke off and laughed at the incredulity of it. “Don’t worry.”

Kiba stroked his ears, then nuzzled his jaw. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Letting me be your first.”

Shino wanted to say thank you to Kiba as well, but it seemed ill fitting. He would thank the brunet for his kisses and body and interest in his life later on. Shino thought of what his father would say, now that he wasn’t a virgin, and found he couldn’t care. He loved his father, but he loved Kiba more, and he didn’t regret anything.

“Didn’t break you, did I?” he said, trying to joke, but his voice had always been flat and the words stuck.

Kiba laughed regardless, “Not yet.”

“Later, then,” Shino echoed, before worrying that perhaps it had only been a one-off, that they had reached the zenith of their adventure together and now it was all over.

Kiba caught the uncertainty in Shino’s voice, and he rubbed his thumbs over Shino’s mouth, kissing it softly.

“Whenever you want.” 

+

The day was slow. As soon as Shino returned to his room that morning, he went in the shower and scrubbed away any evidence of what they had done, before skipping down to breakfast and trying not to smile.

His mother greeted him with pancakes, giving him a once-over and commenting that he was looking much happier than usual, before pondering aloud if it was the fact that they had another person his age in the house.

“Perhaps,” Shino answered evasively.

His mother smiled, albeit a little sadly. The subject of Shino’s lack of siblings went untouched, despite Shino’s eagerness to discuss it, as Kiba entered.

He had a grin on his face as he ruffled Shino’s hair affectionately and accepted a plate of pancakes from Shino’s mother, thanking her with, “You’re a darling.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, pleased.

The brunet planted himself next to Shino, “Mornin’.”

“Hello,” Shino looked at him, noting the searching way Kiba stared at him, as if he was trying to catch a glimpse of Shino’s eyes behind the glasses. “Did you sleep well?”

“Like an elephant,” Kiba answered, grin still wide.

Shino felt like telling the brunet he was attractive.

Kiba turned back to his pancakes, digging into them enthusiastically, “How’d you sleep?”

Shino rolled his shoulders, mindful of his mother’s presence, “Alright.”

“Yeah?” Kiba’s grin morphed into a mischievous one, and he turned in his seat to face Shino. “Just ‘alright’?”

“Should it have been otherwise?”

“I don’t know,” Kiba winked. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“I do not think there is anything to tell.”

“But I’m all ears,” Kiba almost whined, then took a generous bite of his pancake. It was drenched in cream and syrup. “Wow, this is fantastic.”

Shino smiled at the brunet. He even almost leant over and kissed him, but remembered his mother’s presence at the last minute and ate his pancake instead.

“What about you, then? I trust you slept well enough.”

Kiba shrugged nonchalantly, “Not bad. But I woke up at two.”

Shino’s cheeks warmed. He wondered if Kiba would expose the two of them. Surely not. The brunet wasn’t that careless, nor was he that ignorant of Shino’s wishes.

“Oh?” Shino tried for nonchalance. “Why was that?”

“Don’t know,” Kiba said, and he too was going for nonchalance and failing terribly. “There was a bit of a draft.”

Shino paused before answering under the pretense of eating his breakfast. “Welcome to autumn.”

“Great time of the year, hey,” Kiba nodded, wolfing down his own plate with a dangerous appetite. “Grass always feels nicest now.”

Shino caught the brunet’s sidelong glance and realized what he was doing. Then he turned his attentions to his glass of milk because he felt like laughing out loud and kissing the brunet and playing along.

He couldn’t, though.There was his mother to think about.It was too risky.

He licked his lips, then said, “I always thought it was too slippery.”

Kiba’s knowing grin was contagious. “Still really soft, though.”

“Perhaps.” Shino kept drinking.

He watched the brunet eat, remembering small details from their previous coupling, like the small groans Kiba had kept making, and how he had kept panting, voice high and breathless, and the blank look on his face when he had finally finished.

Shino shifted, ate his pancakes in silence. He wanted the brunet again.

His mother spoke up, “What time is Ruka-sensei expecting you, Shino?”

Shino sought out his mental timetable, “Ten.”

“What time will you be back by?” Kiba asked.

Shino turned to him, “Uh…four. Why?”

Shino’s mother answered, “Your father and I are going out with Tsume and Kiba at nine-thirty.” She checked the clock on the wall, “So eat up. You only have twenty minutes.”

“ _Hai_ ,” Shino nodded, doing as he was told.

He got up and put his plate in the sink with a quiet, _thanks,_ before passing by the table and startling when Kiba grabbed his sleeve.

“Have fun.”

“I shall.”

“Don’t miss me too much.”

Shino felt his cheeks turn red, because he already did and he hadn’t even left yet, “I’ll try.”

He wasn’t sure if his mother saw the exchange, but it was hard to care, especially when Kiba squeezed his wrist and returned to his breakfast. He needed to go.

+

The rest of Shino’s day was tedious, and he spent half the time getting distracted by his thoughts. Ruka-sensei had not said anything yet, so he took that as a positive sign and tried to appear as though he was absorbed in his training. He wasn’t sure if he was pulling it off quite right.

The shuriken he let loose embedded themselves in their targets perfectly and he raised a brow. Perhaps he was getting the hang of multi-tasking. It was a necessity now, when his mind was mostly clogged with Kiba.

The slightest lapse in concentration meant he was back to the morning, lying down with the brunet in the field and watching all the expressions, feeling all the movements, hearing every low groan that came forth.

Shino swallowed and readied himself for another drill. He missed his kikaichū, but his taijutsu wasn’t as strong as it could be, so the substitute training wasn’t going to waste.

He queried the possibility of the two of them doing something again. Preferably soon. Such as when he returned home.

Another perfect hit, another follow-up drill.

Shino sighed inwardly. He couldn’t clear his head. He was bored. He wanted to go home and kiss Kiba into the sheets and pretend for a little longer.

There was a moment of panic where he pondered about his parents knowing about his recent activities, and then followed the discouraging truth. He knew they were expectant and that they wanted a nice daughter-in-law for eventual grandchildren, but he just wished he could do forever with Kiba instead.

Shino hit another target. He looked at his watch. It wasn’t even twelve yet.

+

Kiba was the only one at home when Shino returned.

He came back expecting to head straight to the bathroom when he stumbled across the brunet instead, sprawled out on his bed, fast asleep in nothing but shorts. Something caught in his throat.

He crossed the room as quietly as he could and paused, hesitating on whether he should wake the brunet or shower first. Then he smelt his clothes. He chose the shower.

There was a long period of time where Shino just stared at the tiles under his feet, thinking too much about the slumbering brunet. It was all he seemed to be able to do now—think and daydream.

When he came out, a little waterlogged and wishing he’d brought in a change of clothing, the brunet was awake, hugging a pillow to his chest.

“Hey.”

He stopped. “Hello.”

He decided he was never going to get used to those pointed looks that Kiba gave him, the ones that ran all the way from his head down to his feet and back up again.

“How was training?” the brunet asked, voice all rough and low with sleep.

“Good.”

“Didn’t miss me too much?”

Shino had to keep from saying, _I missed you the entire time_ , because it was both stupid and clingy. “I don’t know.”

Kiba’s fangs made an appearance, “Do you now?”

Shino sighed, running a hand through his damp hair. Kiba’s eyes softened.

“Feel like getting over here then?” he said quietly.

Shino nodded, willing his feet to move, and then he was there, Kiba already kissing him even though he wasn’t lying down yet, hand embedding itself in his hair. Shino let a breath loose in Kiba’s mouth as the brunet pushed his other hand up against Shino’s ribs. He hadn’t known he was ticklish.

Kiba didn’t appear to notice, as his hand moved to Shino’s back. Shino mouthed messily at the brunet’s lips and then—once Kiba had complained long enough—he shifted his attentions to the brunet’s neck. The noise that issued from Kiba was very addictive, and so was the scrape of the brunet’s teeth against his ear.

“Where’re your sunglasses?” the brunet asked, short of breath.

Shino pulled up, shifted and felt Kiba’s erection digging into his hip. It probably wasn’t wise to tell Kiba that he wasn’t wearing his glasses because he hoped the brunet would react to his eyes the same as last time. He had enough proof, anyway.

“Do you mind?”

Kiba lifted his head and kissed him lazily, “You know I don’t.”

“I thought you were meant to be out with our parents.”

“I was. Came back early. Just wanted to.”

Shino nuzzled the brunet’s cheekbone. He felt like he had finally reached his equilibrium after a day of unbalance, and Kiba’s hands were threading their way through Shino’s hair, calming and grounding as Shino sought out his collarbone to press a sucking kiss to it. Kiba moaned softly, squirmed a little, and then barked out a laugh when Shino’s hands alighted on his ribs.

“Ticklish,” the brunet stuttered, laughing when Shino deliberately moved his hands.

At least the brunet didn’t know he was ticklish there as well.

Kiba couldn’t stop chuckling, and Shino locked the brunet in his arms as Kiba huffed out pleas for him to stop, “Hey, man, come on—babe—stop, you bastard—”

Shino laughed with him and then Kiba kissed him, teeth sinking into his lip multiple times until Shino broke away because he was smiling too much to kiss properly. An apology threaded its way to Kiba from Shino, and he decided he deserved the punch Kiba delivered to his arm. The brunet hummed happily and buried his hands in Shino’s hair again, kissing him chastely as Shino settled his weight on the brunet’s chest and felt out the bones in his shoulders.

Eventually Kiba tilted his head up, fingers leaving their residence in Shino’s hair to drift down to the soft part underneath his eye, saying,“You’re so blind about these.”

Shino smiled faintly and Kiba pressed a little harder, stroking the skin there before touching the corners.

“I really like your eyes.”

The immediate answer wasn’t something Shino was completely comfortable with. He pressed their mouths together again because it felt right to do it at that time. Kiba responded in kind and they stayed like that for a while, sharing breaths.

Kiba’s hips kept pushing into his every now and then, but the pleasure was a slow burn and Shino stayed on it, dragging it out, liking the fuzzy feeling that resulted from it.

A short while later the brunet broke away, and Shino could already tell what he was going to ask, but it took him a few goes.

“Do you want to go again?” he said finally.

The question was a little more abstract than Shino had been expecting, so he hoped his answer covered all bases, “If you want.”

He had a recollection of Kiba answering a similar question.

The brunet nodded.

“I don’t think I have anything…” _For the slide._

Kiba’s grin was infectious, even if Shino was beyond embarrassed. “You’re unbelievable.” Then he pushed at Shino’s chest, “Up. Off. I’ll get some from my room.”

He left Shino, bare back rippling with muscles. Shino crossed his hands behind his head, stared up at the ceiling and tried not too grin too hard in anticipation. He couldn’t stop now, thanks to Kiba.

The brunet returned with a kiss and another vial of oil (olive, Shino guessed), crawling over Shino and settling down, “Do it again, yeah?”

Of course.

Shino pushed away his shyness and rolled them over, trying to ignore Kiba’s mouth sucking kisses against his neck as he uncapped the vial and had a small battle with the brunet’s shorts. It really was distracting though, with Kiba’s teeth and tongue, and it took a long time before Shino was composed enough to insert one slick finger, slowly and gently, trying to copy the time before.

He remembered this part very well and shifted his gaze to Kiba’s gauging his reaction as he eased his finger in. He wanted to do this. A lot. As much as possible. For a long time, too.

Kiba clenched around him suddenly, Shino immediately feeling guilty for going too fast. Kiba didn’t say anything though, and Shino paused in his movements, wishing he hadn’t gotten carried away in the snug fit of Kiba’s insides around his fingers.

“Stop worrying so much,” the brunet huffed out, one hand curling around Shino’s bicep. “It’s good.”

Perhaps Kiba was a psychic.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Certain?”

“Yeah,” Kiba said, impatient, and he pushed his hips up for emphasis. “Go on already.”

Hesitant, he made certain Kiba was accustomed to the feel of one finger by going slower than before until he couldn’t go any more. The brunet’s breathing was uneven and Shino carefully pressed upwards, seeking, experiencing a small zing of happiness when Kiba curled in on himself reflexively.

“Okay?”

Kiba nodded quickly, “ _H-hai_.”

Shino took in the brunet underneath him to check that he was doing the right thing anyway, hoping he wasn’t being too fast or hurting the brunet or disappointing him. Apparently not. Kiba’s eyes were lidded, a blanked out expression settling in his features when Shino shifted his finger out and pressed back in with two, taking his time and making sure that the brunet didn’t feel any pain, because he might be virginal, but he knew it was a sensitive area.

He smoothed a hand over the brunet’s thigh, taking in the way Kiba’s breath hitched and a small gasp came. He contemplated doing to Kiba’s erection what Kiba had done to his in the unused room the other day, but put it to another day, because he didn’t have enough confidence in his multi-tasking skills, despite his earlier ramblings at training. Doing that to Kiba would require much more concentration because he was new to it.

It didn’t make him want to do it any less. The idea of having Kiba like that paled in comparison to actual sex, but Shino wanted to make the brunet feel as good as he had, and he had already returned all the activities that Kiba had given him except for that one.

He bent his head, pushed into Kiba again with his two fingers and rubbed up against that spot, the tight feeling in his chest spreading when Kiba groaned loudly. Another day, he told himself.

After a while, longer than Shino cared to remember, he paused to get more oil for the third finger, keeping his ears open for any directions from Kiba, which the brunet gave every now and then. They were both covered in a light sheen of sweat and Shino blinked when Kiba mouthed at his eyelid, voice sounding like it had been wrung out as he complained about multitasking.

“What?”

“Trying to kiss you when you’ve got three fingers buried in me,” Kiba explained, gasping when Shino moved his fingers the way Kiba had been telling him not to because he didn’t want to finish so quickly. “Fuck, _don’t_.”

Shino blew out a breath and stroked his fingers in and out again, shifting his wrist into a better position to keep it from cramping. He was harder than ever, aroused by Kiba’s constant squirming and moaning and whining, and then he had to pull back when the brunet reached for his erection.

“No, not yet.”

Kiba was incredulous, “What?”

“Please?” Shino pleaded, thunking his forehead down onto Kiba’s chest to concentrate on not finishing, which was actually really difficult. “I don’t want to come like this.”

Kiba stayed silent for a moment, and then wriggled his hips, “Alright. Come on. Up.”

“What’s happening?” Shino asked, but Kiba wasn’t listening, hand wrapping around Shino’s shaft instead, and damn, he deserved a medal for his ability to stave off his orgasm.

They worked together, guiding the head of Shino inside of the brunet, and then Shino made a very unholy noise when he simply slipped in with no resistance, sliding all the way to the end.Kiba was less subtle, whimpering when Shino’s hips were flush with his thighs, hands grabbing at Shino’s hair as he swore a lot.

Shino knew from this morning what sex was like, but it still felt ten different kinds of amazing.He huffed, dug his arms underneath Kiba’s shoulders and fought against surrendering to the _heat_. He couldn’t quite think properly. He wanted to grin until his cheeks hurt and thrust into Kiba until completion and keep the brunet with him for a long time.

Chest pressed against Kiba’s, he could feel the unsteady beat of the brunet’s heart, and then felt his own pulse quicken at the realization that he was the cause of it, that Kiba had let him become so close to him. Typical canine. Full of dominance and threats until they found someone likable, and then they turned into puppies.

“You gonna move today or tomorrow?” Kiba asked in a faint voice, tightening around Shino.

Shino chuckled despite their current position, caught the kiss from Kiba and bucked his hips, testing the waters. He wanted to take his time. Kiba hummed appreciatively, red markings crinkling as they always did when he smiled.

“Yes,” he said, even though his hips were already moving in small aborted thrusts, easing some of the pressure but still keeping it gentle.

Kiba made a soft exhalation when Shino pushed back in all the way, arms pressing against him a little more, like he was trying to hold Shino together. Shino lowered his head next to Kiba’s and pressed his nose to the hot, damp nape of Kiba’s neck.

“You’re doing great,” Kiba said in a strangled voice, as if Shino needed the encouragement.

He supposed he did, given the fact that the last time they had done this, Kiba had been in control, cocky and self-assured. A sharp bolt of pleasure rocked through him at the thought and the brunet chuckled, as if he knew what Shino was thinking of.

“Shut up,” he growled instead of the sappy thoughts that had been circling his head all day, rising up to his elbows again.

Kiba threw his head back and laughed, chest rumbling. “Oh, baby. You’re so gone.”

Shino kept thrusting, knowing it wasn’t good for his concentration and continuing anyway. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” Kiba said in a secretive tone, eyes closing as he leant up and kissed Shino’s ear, mouth opening on a soft cry as Shino moved his hips perfectly for the first time.

That made him feel better.

“Stop _worrying_ ,” Kiba said. “ _Again_ , Kami.”

“Difficult.”

Kiba’s grin was short-lived. It morphed into a blank look that Shino was beginning to crave for, and he worked some more willpower into his muscles to keep Kiba like that.

The brunet was impossibly tight around him, something Shino remembered from their time before. He hoped he wasn’t hurting the brunet. He didn’t think he was. Kiba caught his eyes and kept them there, daring.

Shino didn’t look away, no matter how much the eye contact felt like it was tearing him inside out. No, he would face this. He was already that far in; to not give back to Kiba after receiving so much was wrong.

He shifted, redirected his thrusts so that he could aim for that spot inside Kiba that made him go crazy. It worked. The brunet’s nails drew sharp lines of fire down his back at the moment Shino found the spot and he winced a little, knowing they would leave questionable marks. Maybe he would create a tale about fighting a giant fox. Or a cat. Nine of them.

Kiba’s teeth found his earlobe and grazed the area, before a nose pressed up against Shino’s throat. No kisses came, just nuzzling. It was oddly intimate, the entire thing, and Shino’s hips slowed to a more languid pace—if it could even be called that—as the brunet’s nose tracked up his neck to behind his ear.

“Hey,” the brunet said, chuckling in a way that could only be described as giggling.

His breath fell against Shino’s neck in sharp pants, and Shino wondered if it was exertion from what they were doing or something else.

“You smell different now,” Kiba said, still in that dazed tone.

“Different?” Shino asked, trying to get his breathing under control.

“Mine,” Kiba affirmed, still sniffing him.

“Your mother…” Shino thought aloud, even though he really didn’t want to be thinking about the brunet’s mother at a time like this, but it made sense that if Kiba could smell it, then the Inuzuka matriarch most definitely would.

The brunet shrugged, “She doesn’t care who I sleep with.”

The words were simple enough.

Still, to Shino, they were a punch in the gut.

He knew Kiba hadn’t been a virgin, that he probably had multiple partners thanks to his looks and that this was only a small dalliance to pass the time before he left at the end of the week.

It still hurt, more than it had any right to.

“I see,” Shino said, swallowing.

Of course the brunet thought like that. It wasn’t as if they were anything more than…whatever they were. A lump was forming in his throat, and he didn’t really think when he shook his head to unwind Kiba’s arms from his neck.

Something clouded Kiba’s eyes when Shino eased out, but he didn’t dwell on it.

“Where are you going?” the brunet asked, voice quiet and vulnerable.

“I don’t know,” Shino replied.

Then he stood and left for the bathroom.

The shower floor was still wet from before when he turned it on. Kiba had not followed him, despite a part of Shino thinking that he would. Foolish. They hadn’t even finished.

He rubbed his nose, wishing the movement didn’t remind him of Kiba as the shower took its time warming up. The scent of their activities was clinging to his skin, as were their bodily fluids. The water hitting the tiles was incredibly loud, like a waterfall.

The steam wasn’t hot enough to fog up the mirror yet, and Shino caught a glance of himself as he passed it. Usually he didn't look in the mirror—too often he would be put off by his blotchy skin—but the glance was enough to make him step closer, curiosity piqued. 

Now wasn’t very different to the other times he had bothered to check his appearance, only his skin was not simply patchy; instead there were bite marks with distinct indents that could only be from Kiba’s fangs, grooves from the brunet’s claw-like nails and faint bruises on his hips. It made his mouth quirk a little at why they were there.

The familiar golden gaze stared back. His hair was its usual spiky self, albeit a little unkempt. He was too serious, he decided, looking at the thin line of his mouth and the slight crease of his brow.

Kiba was probably sugarcoating the ‘pretty skin and hot eyes’ tangent. When this week was over, the brunet would most likely return to his life as a debauchee, and Shino would still be here, alone with his kikaichū until he was introduced to his betrothed.

He sighed, glared at his reflection and hit the side of his fist against the glass, closing his eyes as he bowed forwards. His thoughts were a mess.

“Damn.”

Shino turned quickly, “Kiba.”

The brunet didn’t say anything straight away, striding over and sealing his lips over the junction of Shino’s neck and shoulder, sucking harshly, “I came to apologize, but you're…”

“Such a good distraction?” Shino offered, still smarting.

“You bet,” the brunet replied, biting down.

He was semi-hard, and so was Shino, another reminder that he had left in the middle.

“Sorry for being a dick,” the brunet said into Shino’s neck. “I’m not used to, well, I’ve never actually had a virgin before—Kami, I sound like the biggest slut out.” He looked up at Shino sheepishly, “I’m not doing this very well, am I?”

“No.”

“Gee, thanks.” Kiba’s grin was wry. He rubbed the back of his neck, “I guess I forgot that you’ve never had something like this before, and I was a little…insensitive.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Babe,” Kiba whined softly, grasping Shino’s face. “Don’t be like that. This isn’t a short-term thing for me, you know. It used to be, but not now.”

Shino didn’t agree, “You leave in two days.”

“I’ll see you afterwards then.”

“I have training. Youhave training. And I have other things to take care of. Things that mean I can’t continue this.”

“Bug girlfriend?” Kiba said, tone resentful.

Shino felt indignant. “Somewhat.”

“And yet you’ve come so far already,” the brunet said, part wistful, part mocking.

“I have responsibilities.”

“What makes you think I care about those?”

“You should,” Shino said, even though it just sounded like he wanted Kiba to give a damn about him rather than accept the responsibility that came when bedding an Aburame.

“Well I don’t,” Kiba retorted.

Shino blinked, irritated. His eyes were stinging from the steam, he was hurting over the reality of his situation, and he still thought Kiba was beautiful. “I need to shower.”

“Shino.”

“Yes?”

Nothing came, apart from a pair of chapped lips pushing into the nape of Shino’s neck.

“Do you want to leave it for today?” the brunet asked, like he was the teacher and Shino was the student who had decided they didn’t want to do any more learning.

He huffed out an irritable sigh, wondering why the brunet was bothering to ask when it was obvious that he was still hard. “What do you think?”

A hand snaked down to wrap around the base of him, “Common courtesy.”

“Hardly,” Shino said shortly, refusing to acknowledge the brunet’s use of _his_ words as he stepped into the shower.

Kiba didn’t say anything else, just followed him.

It was slow, then. Shino sat on the tiled floor with the sound of falling water thundering around the bathroom, Kiba kissing him as he sank down, tanned legs splayed on either side of Shino’s.

“Shino,” Kiba mumbled, all watery and tempting as ever.

He closed his eyes and did it for the two of them and Shino watched and did nothing apart from think how well they fit together. Kiba was still oblivious, and Shino could still pretend.

+

Nothing happened the next day. Shino had his training and duties with Ruka-sensei, and Shino’s parents went out with the Inuzukas. Ruka-sensei gave him another of those strange, knowing looks of hers when he arrived at her place.

“I think you’re almost ready,” she said cryptically.

Shino did not ask what she meant, and Ruka-sensei left him alone for the majority of the day.

He was meant to go home immediately after his training at five, but he didn’t. He was eighteen. He would do whatever he pleased.

By the time his feet had stopped carrying him places, he was deep in the forest bordering his home. The bubbling of a nearby stream could be heard. Shino wished he had his kikaichū with him.

The use of chakra left him lying on the bough of one of the tallest trees, watching the sun go down.

 _Pretty_ , Shino thought, and he didn’t go home.

+

When he did walk into the house the next evening, tired from staying up all night and training with Ruka-sensei in the morning and sleeping all afternoon, his father was in the sitting room, reading.

“Shino,” he said upon his entrance.

A single word, but Shino did not miss the unspoken sentences behind it.

_You’re back. Why did you not return until now? What is bothering you? Do you want to talk about it? Why did you not approach the subject sooner?_

“ _Hai_ ,” Shino said eventually, uncomfortable.

“Your mother has been out with Tsume. She should return shortly.”

“ _Hai_.”

His father’s gaze was steady when it met his, but Shino turned his head, upset now that his return home was coupled with reminders of why he had left in the first place. He contemplated talking to his father, before the selfish, vindictive part of him said no. This problem was his own secret, and he didn’t want anyone else sharing it.

“Are you hungry?”

He wasn’t, not really. Ruka-sensei had fed him that morning. She had said he was ‘almost ready’ again, and when Shino had bothered to ask what she meant, she had shaken her head.

“You will know soon enough, Shino,” had been the words she chose, so Shino trusted her judgment and kept it at that.

She had not kept him too long anyway, sending him off after he had done only one round of drills with, “Go home and rest.”

He hadn’t heeded her words that time, returning to the same spot in the forest he had spent the previous night in. It was childish, he supposed, to be so close to home yet refuse to return, but he hadn’t cared.

Careless, Shino decided. Kiba’s effect on him was much stronger than he first thought.

Eventually though, the guilt had caught up to him, so he had come back.

His father was still looking at him, concern showing on his face, despite never having been voiced. If Kiba had been here, Shino would have smiled and apologized for causing his parents to worry and left.

Now though, the silence was thick and uncomfortable and he wanted to disappear.

“ _Īe_ ,” he answered.

“ _Hai_ ,” his father said tiredly, and with a curt nod, Shino was dismissed.

The climb up the stairs was long. Knowing that Kiba was probably in his own room since his father hadn’t mentioned anyone aside from their mothers made his stomach swirl. Even now, he still wanted the brunet.

The brunet’s door was closed when he reached the level, and the light was off. It was only six. Perhaps the brunet had taken a nap.

He pushed open his own door. The room was not empty when he entered. It seemed that Kiba had forgotten they had separate rooms. He was not awake.

 _What is it with canines_ , Shino thought, _and_ _their habit of_ _always being asleep?_

It was almost natural to slip under the covers next to the slumbering brunet, as if Shino had just returned from a long day of training and Kiba had fallen asleep waiting up for him.

He huffed. He was such a romantic now. Whatever happened to the calculating, analytical perfectionist? Shino had sunken to a level of intelligence that he rather did not think about.

Kiba stirred slightly, snuggled closer and did no more.

 _How easy_ , Shino mused, alerted to the fact that his eyes felt all hot and stingy now that he was in his own bed, curled up with Kiba.

He raised a hand, threaded his fingers through the brunet’s unruly hair and swallowed past the lump in his throat. Kiba was warm and solid against him, a lulling factor amongst the turmoil that was Shino’s thought patterns.

He was asleep within minutes.

+

It was still dark when Shino opened his eyes again, but the room was slowly starting to lighten. Some time during the night, Kiba had thrown an arm and leg over his waist, trapping him.

“Did I wake you?”

The words were loud in the quiet of early morning and Shino startled, before realizing that the brunet was awake, face tucked into Shino’s neck.

He answered in a whisper, because to do otherwise seemed like he was breaking something precious. “No.”

“Hm,” Kiba hummed.

A pair of lips pressed against his throat, sucking slowly. Shino closed his eyes again, felt Kiba’s arousal pressing against his thigh and tried to tell himself that it was because the brunet had just woken up.

“Where’d you escape to?” Kiba asked, mouth closing on Shino’s Adam’s apple. “I haven’t seen you in about a year.”

“I was…” Shino paused, searching for something that didn’t make him out to be a petulant child. “Training.”

“For two days?” Kiba’s tone was light, but it was also dangerous. “Extensive training in autumn. Not normal.”

Shino frowned, wincing when Kiba scraped his teeth along his jugular, “I never said I was normal.”

“No?”

“No,” Shino said firmly, pushing the brunet away so that he could talk without his vocal cords feeling like they would be crushed from Kiba’s canines. “You should get to know me better.”

Indecision stole over Kiba’s features for a spit second, before a grin wrapped its way around his mouth and he leaned forward, a possessive hand sliding down Shino’s stomach, “I know you enough.”

A beat.

A beat, and then Shino was surging forward, one hand burrowing into Kiba’s hair as he took his mouth. It was a messy kiss, too much teeth and tongue, but Shino didn’t care, pushing the brunet back onto the mattress and attacking his clothing, growling when the fishnet shirt Kiba wore refused to come off.

Then it did, and Shino’s hands dug into the brunet’s ribs, momentarily distracted when Kiba pulled him back down for another kiss. Something wasn’t right between them; none of their movements matched up and it came to the point where Shino had to think more about not getting his tongue bitten off than removing Kiba’s trousers.

His concentration was not good.

The brunet’s canines were sharp when they sliced through Shino’s lip and he pulled away, wincing when he probed the area gingerly and his fingers came away red. Kiba’s teeth were bloody and his eyes were bright, but Shino gathered enough from the silent moment that he wasn’t about to get an apology, so he wiped his mouth and pressed it to Kiba’s again.

The brunet’s hand was fumbling around for something, and then Shino realized—when he broke away—that Kiba had already found and uncapped another vial of oil.

He had a dazed thought of where the brunet managed to both find and hide so many vials before Kiba was licking his way around Shino’s gums and saying mockingly, “Go on, then.”

For the first time, Shino faltered. He wanted to be gentle. Things were moving too quickly for his liking, and Kiba wasn’t happy, hadn’t said he wanted to have sex, even though the rest of him did and he had given Shino permission to prepare him.

“I—”

“What?” Kiba taunted, a foot sliding up Shino’s thigh as he bit down on Shino’s ear, hard.

Shino hoped it didn’t break the skin. “I just think—”

“Worried I’ll change my mind?”

 _Yes_ , Shino thought glumly, before Kiba clicked his fingers.

“Shall I do it myself, since you’ve reverted to the virginal bug boy you first were?”

Shino snarled and snatched the vial from the brunet, pushing roughly on Kiba’s knees until they lifted.

Kiba’s words hurt. Kiba’s unhappiness hurt. Kiba’s impending departure hurt.

“I’m not a fucking girl,” the brunet grumbled and Shino frowned deeper and pushed more, until even the strong façade of bravery failed to hide Kiba’s discomfort.

He sighed inaudibly, withdrew and waited until Kiba’s confused and indignant gaze met his. “Do you even want this?”

“Of course I do,” Kiba snapped.

“I’m not sure that you do.”

“I leave in two fucking hours, Shino. The least you can do is grant me one more time, since all you’ve been doing is running away for the past couple of days.”

“I wasn’t running away.”

“You’re a worse liar than I am, and I don’t wear sunglasses.”

Shino growled and tore them from his face, “Better?”

“No,” Kiba said stubbornly. “Because you still aren’t telling me the truth.”

“I wanted…” _You_ , his mind provided. “Space.”

“Bug girlfriend fidelity then?”

“No,” Shino bristled, affronted. “I had training. I trained and slept in a tree because I didn’t want to come home.”

“Am I that repulsive?” Kiba’s comment was sarcastic.

“Yes,” Shino said. “You stink of dog.”

Kiba laughed suddenly, a rumbling, full laugh that undid any tangles of animosity between them, and Shino found himself smiling with the brunet, even as his chest ached. The sun was rising more steadily now, light filtering into the room despite the blinds.

This, Shino decided, was what he wanted to wake up to in the morning: Kiba with his ruffled hair and sleep-ridden eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out.

“Me too,” Kiba nodded, and Shino knew he wasn’t just referring to this morning’s faux pas.

They watched each other quietly, before Shino made up his mind.

“Two hours, huh?” he said softly, one hand reaching out to fold over Kiba’s ribs again.

“Yeah,” Kiba said just as softly, one hand moving up to cushion his head as the other touched Shino’s against his torso.

Shino dipped his head and kissed the brunet again.

This time was slower, and better. Kiba’s teeth didn’t make an appearance, and he suckled gently on Shino’s bleeding lip, apologetic. Eventually they got to preparing Kiba again, albeit much gentler this time, and Shino went through the familiar process of staving off his orgasm as the brunet put all his willpower into being a tease.

“Is that enough?” Shino asked.

“If you put any more in me, I _will_ be a girl,” Kiba grumbled, probably unaccustomed to the feeling of so much lubrication.

Shino was just being cautious, plus making Kiba properly ready was a necessity. At least it would make the slide even easier.

The brunet went on to say, “Hurry up, you bastard, before I come without you,” and Shino smiled, taking that as his cue to push in.

He took his time, and when he was fully sheathed, he leant down and took the brunet’s lips between his, overwhelmed.

Kiba moaned, hands cupping the back of Shino’s neck to tilt their heads and ease his tongue along Shino’s. Shino wondered if Kiba ever felt the same rushing sensation of brilliance that he did whenever they did this, before Kiba’s walls tightened around him reflexively.

Shino bucked his hips, felt a thrill of want sing through him when Kiba’s eyes rolled back, and did it again.

“Good fucking gods,” Kiba whined, complaint collapsing into a series of muffled groans when Shino kept doing it.

At first Shino worried about making so much noise, before Kiba’s arms crushed him into an embrace and he forgot about anything other than making the brunet feel as good as he possibly could.

The sheets dampened beneath them as they rocked, Kiba eventually giving up on holding Shino close and screwing his hands into his hair instead as Shino licked a wet trail up the brunet’s cheek.

The room was bright now, full of morning, and outside, the day had started. Shino redoubled his efforts and tucked way every sound for later use, mindless. Kiba was now clenching unconsciously rather than purposely, and Shino was losing control.

 _Tell him you love him_ , his mind said, and then his mouth moved, words following, much too fragile and far too honest, but the brunet had wanted him to tell the truth, hadn’t he?

“You’re the most beautiful person I know,” Shino admitted, heart somewhere between his chest and throat, and Kiba grabbed him closer and came.

+

Inuzuka Tsume was not one who dallied. Like her son, she was straightforward and brash, only staying for breakfast after much pestering from Shino’s parents.

Kiba sat next to Shino as their folks conversed about how wonderful the stay was, answering and inserting when he felt was appropriate. Shino stayed quiet. His toast was clogging his throat and every swallow kept making his eyes burn. He wasn’t stupid enough to pretend it was because the tea was too hot.

Ten o’clock rolled in and with it came the Inuzukas’ departure. Shino lingered in the sitting room as the adults strode off outside, hoping that Kiba would stay behind and…well. He didn’t know what he wanted the brunet to do, only that he didn’t want to give a platonic goodbye when the entire week had changed his life, possibly forever.

Kiba got the hint, smiling easily at him. Shino wished he possessed the lackadaisical attitude that the brunet had.

“Stop moping,” Kiba chided. “I’m leaving, aren’t I? Give me a smile to remember.”

Shino gave it a try.

“Not like that,” Kiba shook his head. “A real one. Like this morning.”

Those memories made Shino smile for real, and Kiba gave him a matching one.

“That’s more like it,” the brunet leant in and pressed his nose to Shino’s collarbone. “You smell better than fantastic.”

“Your goal, wasn’t it?” Shino said, remembering.

“Yup. And now I’m going.” The brunet made a face, “I’m really not fucking good with words.”

“No.”

“Sorry for making you feel like a one-night-stand,” Kiba said, grimacing as he said it.

“It’s the truth,” Shino said, even though the words felt like kunai being sliced across his chest.

“No,” Kiba shook his head. “No, it’s not. But…thanks. For, y’know. Everything.”

“Yeah,” Shino said just as awkwardly and the brunet made to leave, before Shino caught onto the brunet’s sleeve, feeling helpless, “Kiba—”

“Mom hates waiting,” Kiba’s voice wasn’t right either, and he wouldn’t meet Shino’s eyes.

“So do you.”

“Yes,” Kiba agreed. “So come on then, before I split your lip again, and it won’t be from my teeth.”

Shino blinked at the comment and followed the brunet, before Kiba turned and muttered, “Oh, fuck it,” and pressed their mouths together at the last minute.

It was clumsy and full of tongue, but Shino didn’t think his reciprocation was very good either, so who was he to judge?

Kiba whimpered into his mouth when their teeth clashed, and Shino inwardly cursed his lack of ability. Here he was, kissing the brunet for the last time ever, and he couldn’t even do it right.

It went on, Shino feeling that same sinking feeling of desperation in him from breakfast as his hands grabbed at the brunet’s waist and chest, before settling on cradling Kiba’s face. The brunet didn’t seem to be in any position to argue at the frenzied movements, tilting his head and attempting to shove his tongue down Shino’s throat. Their bodies met roughly, uncoordinated, and Shino would have laughed, if Kiba hadn’t been taking all his oxygen.

It stopped, Kiba pulling away far too soon for Shino’s liking.

“Hey,” he said, canines glinting, voice a rough, low octave that Shino loved.

Then, as if he had suddenly remembered that their parents were outside, most likely waiting for them, his eyes hardened and he stood straighter.

“Yeah,” was all he said, and they left the sitting room in silence.

His parents were on the lawn, nodding and talking to Tsume, and when they saw the two emerge, the Inuzuka head waved him over, impatient.

“Come on, you,” she scolded lightly. “Your sister’s expecting us, and we’ll be late home, at this rate.”

“ _Hai_ ,” Kiba grumbled, bowing respectfully to Shino’s father and clasping Shino’s mother’s hands in his. “You’re wonderful.”

Shino stood next to his parents, feeling awkward and unhappy. Kiba grinned and ruffled his hair up at the back, as if he knew that was Shino’s favorite thing to do to the brown locks.

“I’ll see you at ANBU then, I guess,” the brunet shrugged, and his eyes softened imperceptibly as he reached out and chucked Shino under the chin.

“Yes,” Shino nodded stiffly.

“Of course,” Kiba finished and clutched his tongue between his teeth as he smiled.

When they were gone, Shino went to his room and retrieved his kikaichū. They buzzed happily as he let them in, and helped him track down that same spot in the field where Kiba and he had sex for the first time, not complaining when he lay down on his back and stared up at the sky, miserable.

He would see the brunet again, almost definitely. Shino was well aware of their ANBU ties, even though the decision was dependent on whether or not he made the team.

He closed his eyes and sighed a sigh that seemed far too deep for a young adult. The brunet’s farewell lingered in his mind.

Kiba’s smile felt like a goodbye to many things.

**[Kiba]**

The front door rang. Years of living with Hana had told Kiba that his older sister forwent any form of courtesy if she forgot her key and just barged in, regardless of the time.

 _Common courtesy_ , he thought grimly, standing to answer the call, because years of living with his sister also meant that just because she was home sleeping off a hangover, it didn’t mean that she about to see to the visitor herself.

Fucking hell.

Kiba pushed away Akamaru’s curious head, irritable, and pulled the door open. A familiar face greeted him.

“Kankurō.”

“Sup,” the brunet said, gloved hands tucked into the pockets of his trousers.

He looked the same as always, clad in black clothing and hair as spiky as ever. The only difference was the obvious lack of makeup on his face. Perhaps Temari had finally beaten some sense into him.

“Why’d you ring?” Kiba queried, confused. “Usually you just walk straight in.”

Kankurō grimaced, “Yeah, well, last time isn’t exactly something I want to repeat,” and huh, Kiba had forgotten about that.

He had been wrapped around another person that time, so drunk that even now he can’t remember which gender they were.

“Sorry,” Kiba said belatedly.

“Yeah.” Kankurō jutted his chin over Kiba’s shoulder, “You gonna let me in or am I going to have to beg?”

“I always like when you do that.”

“Slut,” Kankurō muttered. “Well?”

“Sure you want to?” Kiba teased. “I might be diseased or something.”

There was a beat, and then Kankurō shot forward, one hand curling around the back of Kiba’s neck and hauling him into a kiss full of tongue. Kiba had enough time to process what was happening before Kankurō released him, nose scrunching up.

“Well now we’ve both got it if you do,” the brunet said, and Kiba nodded, leading the way.

Kankurō raised a brow when they entered his room, but said nothing. Kiba knew what he was talking about: the made bed and spotless shelves, so different from his usual ‘a-cyclone-tore-through-my-bedroom’ look.

“What’ve you been up to?” Kiba asked, flopping down on his bed.

Akamaru had taken up two-thirds of the space, so Kankurō took his usual spot on the floor, answering, “Nothing much. We haven’t had any missions lately, so Gaara’s being a little shit.”

“Always,” Kiba scoffed, because that was normal and that was what Kankurō said all the time.

The brunet had become ANBU the year before, when Kiba had just finished chūnin and was preparing for jōnin, and so daily hangouts had changed to weekly, and then every other week, and then finally months at a time. The few times they had seen each other, Kankurō had been full of complaints about his younger brother and older sister, and Kiba loved Kankurō too much to not let him rant about the pair. He could be Kankurō’s verbal vomit bucket. That’s what friends were for.

“He keeps going to Lee’s tournaments.”

It was Kiba’s turn to raise a brow, because the notion that Kankurō’s dour younger brother cared for someone other than himself was laughable, “As a competitor?”

“Supporter,” Kankurō corrected, laughing at the look that crossed Kiba’s face. “I know. Fuckin’ weird.”

“We’re talking about the same person, right?”

“I hope so.”

“The one who kills people in an instant if they look at him the wrong way.”

“That’d be about right.”

Kiba’s eyes widened, and then he laughed again at the absurdity, Kankurō joining him. Akamaru observed the two with a look that Kiba could only term ‘unimpressed’, and went to sleep with a huff.

“What about you, huh?” Kankurō asked when they had calmed down. “How’d that time with the bug family go?”

Before, Kiba would have chuckled along with him. This time it just made him feel…pissed off.

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” he said sourly, one hand idly petting Akamaru’s head.

Kankurō stared at him, “Why?”

“Don’t know.”

“Bullshit.” Kankurō said. “Did you deflower their princess or something?”

“Oh, fuck off.”

“You _did!_ ” Kankurō crowed, delighted.

“Hoorah,” Kiba groused, and the brunet cackled some more.

What a dickhead. Eventually Kankurō calmed down. He must have seen that Kiba was far from amused, because his tone was quiet and soft when he spoke. He sounded like his younger brother Gaara.

“Kiba.”

Kiba’s gaze remained riveted to the bed sheet as Akamaru gave his wrist a generous lick, “Hn?”

“What happened?”

“I fucked their son and fell in love,” Kiba grumbled, because he had never been one to hide his feelings—too much effort, really—and it was Kankurō.

Kankurō already knew him inside out, so there was no point in keeping it from the brunet.

Kankurō snorted, “Well done.”

“I know.”

“Did you tell him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Kiba bristled, thought of Shino’s bug girlfriend, and buried his hands further into Akamaru’s coat as he mumbled, “Thought it was too soon.”

“Doesn’t sound like it,” Kankurō dissented. “You looked like shit as soon as I saw you. Still do.”

Kiba rubbed a self-conscious hand over his face, “Thanks.”

“What was so different about him?”

Kiba bit down on a smile, because it hurt, thinking about Shino and his giant house and too many bugs. What Kankurō didn’t understand was that the more appropriate question would be, ‘what isn’t different about him?’

Kankurō whacked his calf, “Oi. Don’t space out on me. Kami, you’re a fucking mess.”

“Piss off.”

“Gods, you’re worse than Dei and Sasori.”

One thought of the perverted blond and redhead pair and Kiba almost vomited onto Akamaru. “I am _not_.”

“You are,” Kankurō rebutted. “Sit up straight and answer the fucking question.”

“You talked to Naruto lately?” Kiba avoided the question altogether.

“When he isn’t with Sakura and Sasuke, yeah. Why?”

“Well…you know how he stares at Sasuke?”

Kankurō’s guffaws were so annoying. “Don’t tell me you look like that at this bug boy of yours.”

“I do,” Kiba said. “And he’s got a fucking name.”

“I’m pretty sure we all do,” Kankurō teased, narrowly avoiding Kiba’s harsh punch aimed at his thigh.

“Why the _fuck_ am I bothering with you?”

“Because you _love_ me,” Kankurō simpered, not quite fast enough to avoid Kiba’s fist this time. “Ouch! Uncalled for.”

“Bastard,” Kiba grinned, triumphant.

+

It had been two months since Kiba had seen Shino. He’d been counting the days in his head, which was pretty sad. Even Akamaru thought so. But that didn’t change the fact that two months hurt like a bitch, and Kiba had never been too good at waiting anyway.

He wanted to see Shino again, regardless if the brunet had his bug girlfriend or if they didn’t get along as well as they did during his weeklong stay. He wanted to start ANBU _now_.

His mates Naruto and Kankurō insisted on being the most thick-skulled people he knew of whenever he talked about ANBU possibilities and team drafting, though the blond was slightly more compassionate, since he was head over heels for his raven-haired genin teammate. Not that Naruto would ever admit that, but it was obvious enough in the amount of time that Naruto spent just talking about the raven.

His mother and tutor had both tired of him asking about ANBU possibilities, with Yuko-sensei telling him that ANBU teams were drafted based on ability, not rank, when he had argued about being a jōnin for almost a year.

His mother was less subtle, saying, “If you want to see him again, stop complaining and work on reaching ANBU instead.”

So he did.

And no drafts came, no news of Kiba’s team being formed, nothing, despite several applications and reminders that yes, he existed and was completely ready to advance forward from his jōnin rank. Why did it have to be now that the ANBU team quota was full? The gods hated him, clearly.

“Keep training,” Naruto shrugged. “You’ll get drafted someday.”

Easy for him to say, when his ANBU team was already in action. It even had four members, which was unheard of, and all of them were talented beyond the stars.

Kankurō had the same approach, but he was nowhere near as gentle as Naruto, and Kiba had given him a black eye because of it. Fucking _idiot_.

The weeks rolled by, and still no news.

It was approaching the fifteenth week when Kiba had the sinking realization that perhaps he might not see the brunet for a long time, a year even. That kept him in bed for a day, curled up with Akamaru and lamenting over his lack of balls.

He could have gone for someone a little more gettable, really, instead of an off-limits bug prodigy with overprotective bug parents and an apparitional bug girlfriend. There were plenty of good-looking people that Kiba wouldn’t have objected to falling in love with and getting married, but his head had to be stupid, didn’t it?

Shino wasn’t what Kiba was used to. He was strange and weird with his trench coat and sunglasses and reluctance at socializing, but Kiba was curious by nature and Shino was the most curious person he had ever laid eyes on. He hadn’t even hesitated, surprised and thrilled when Shino hadn’t pushed him away, had brought him as close as possible with his sniping comments and muscled chest and patchy skin and amber eyes—

His dick hated him. Kiba rolled over onto his stomach, ignoring the huff that Akamaru gave him. He really needed to get laid. Too bad Kankurō was out of town for the weekend. Not that Kiba would probably have sex with him anyway.

He was feeling sappy. Shino was the last person inside of him and he kind of wanted to keep it that way.

Gods. What a mess.

He really hoped Shino didn’t get a girlfriend by the time they were drafted for an ANBU team. He was a typical dog: possessive. Besides, he guessed everyone felt that way about the object of his or her affections.

Akamaru growled at him, telling him to shut up.

Kiba growled back. He wondered if he and Shino would fall back into the routine if the brunet didn’t have a girlfriend. He wanted them to. It hadn’t been hard to figure out that Shino liked him a lot too, but Kiba was unsure if the brunet’s reciprocation was as strong as his own, because it had only been a week, and although Kiba was experienced and knew when he had found someone he loved more than just another lay, he didn’t know if Shino had the same ability to discern between blind infatuation and actual attachment. He doubted it. The brunet hadn’t even known what a blowjob was.

Akamaru’s growl was louder this time, and Kiba threated to kick him out in response.

He couldn’t talk when he had been spending most of his nights roaming the neighborhood hooking up with bitches. Kiba just prayed Akamaru didn’t bring any puppies back. As much as he loved dogs, he was fine with having just Akamaru.

And Shino, of course, but that was a total different matter.

 

**[Shino]**

The three months had been slow, but finally winter had melted, giving way to the bright greens of spring. Shino was in the meadow beside his house, training in his taijutsu, and he glanced up at the sky, gauging the vastness of blue. The spring sun was warm against his face, but Shino wasn’t looking forward to the heat of summer when it would make an appearance in six weeks. His kikaichū were buzzing happily inside him, sated from his chakra, and Shino gave them a nudge, making sure they stayed that way.

He was nervous.

His father had left the estate last week to travel to Konoha, the heart of the Land of Fire, and he was expected back this evening. Shino had spent the last seven days honing his tracking skills even further. He had become a little more proficient at it since Kiba had visited, mainly because he took to using his nose and ears as well instead of his kikaichū alone. It made him feel like a dog, but the results outweighed the downsides.

He hoped he got accepted.

It was one thing for Ruka-sensei to say he was ready, and another to apply for ANBU rank. The decision to push forward was thanks to a notification that the Hyūga family had enlisted their own candidate and expected the Aburames to do likewise. It was revealed that the Inuzukas had already forwarded their candidate multiple times during the winter, and so the Aburames were the last to apply. It was necessary for their clan allegiances.

The kikaichū buzzed again, this time in disharmony. Sensitive beings.

Shino rolled his eyes and sent a kunai into the nearest tree.

He was nervous.

Winter had been colder than usual. Ruka-sensei had relieved him on his duties for two of the three months, but he had still trained during the period. His mother had spent a lot of the time in the house’s unused rooms, tidying, rearranging, redecorating. By the time the cold season was leaving them, the house had three more sitting rooms, an art studio, and the beginnings of another library.

When he wasn’t training or helping his father, Shino had joined his mother and watched her work. He hadn’t helped though, because she was stubborn and independent and refused to let him into a room with her unless he sat in the corner. Like a child, he argued, and she had admitted to feeling nostalgic of his childhood.

His nineteenth birthday was uneventful aside from dinner, and he had retreated to his room, taken himself in hand for the first time and thought of Kiba the entire way.

That had been over a month ago, and Shino hadn’t found himself too shy or self-conscious enough to stop doing it. Kiba probably wouldn’t have minded anyway; most likely he would have told Shino to continue and watched.

He closed his eyes. Despite constant reminders of his impending betrothal, the brunet still remained in his mind. It was a nuisance.

+

His father arrived late that evening, which did little to soothe Shino’s neves. Travel-weary, he presented Shino with a fond hand to his shoulder and a white scroll before sitting down to dinner.

The scroll was addressed to Shino, but to open it whilst they were eating was both rude and unnecessary, so he tucked it next to his plate as he sat down and tried not to squirm in discomfort. His curiosity was eating away at him, and his father’s face was blank of anything other than appreciation for the meal.

He hoped the application had been successful. ANBU presented a much wider range of activities and duties, as well as the opportunity to defend the Land of Fire at a greater level than jōnin alone. The kikachū inside him buzzed in curiosity. Shino attempted not to stare at the scroll.

His parents ate slowly, making small-talk between themselves about the travelling hours and state of Konoha. Shino barely tasted his meal. Dinner felt much longer than it usually was.

Afterwards, his parents both set their plates aside.

“Go ahead, Shino,” his father said.

Shino tried not to seize it. Instead he picked it up with more patience than he thought himself capable of and steeled himself for the message inside. The seal was the official symbol of Konoha, and he broke it with careful fingers before unraveling the message.

 _To Aburame Shino,_ it read. _Thank you for your application to enroll into Konoha ANBU. On behalf of our faction, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you in joining the team._

Shino stopped reading at that. He glanced up, took in the way his parents were appearing to act nonchalant and returned to the message, giving them no indication of what the scroll contained. There were the expected pleasantries and requirements of Shino.

_Combinations are common in the formation of ANBU teams, and as per Konoha ANBU tradition, your teammates have been selected on the basis of family. The union of the Hyūga Byakugan, the Inuzuka tracking and hunting skills, and the Aburame honing devices has proven to be a successful combination, and therefore you will partake in the latest union._

_Your teammates are as follows:_

_Hyūga Hinata  
Inuzuka Kiba_

There were dates provided for his induction, training, and introduction to the team. He blinked a couple of times, trying to take it all in. He had actually made it. The scroll crinkled when he closed it and laid it next to his plate again. He breathed out slowly, then looked up at his parents. Gave them a small smile to let them know of his success. His mother smiled back, then came around to him and kissed the top of his head like she used to when he was a child.

“Well done, Shino,” she said warmly.

Shino nodded, swallowed past a thick lump in his throat, and accepted the pat on his shoulder from his father.

+

The next month went even slower than the winter months, and nothing that Shino did could make the time go any quicker. He trained, read his way through a few of the bookshelves in the main library (even though he had already devoured the majority of the titles in there when he was younger), visited the forests surrounding his home, and thought about Kiba.

There was a feeling of both apprehension and excitement hovering under Shino’s skin. He was eager to see who the third teammate was, but he wasn’t as keen to see Kiba. Thinking of the brunet outside of pleasuring himself made him wistful, and often he was carried away with scenarios of what might have happened if his bloodline wasn’t one who treasured reproduction and preservation.

There were many, but one he always revisited was where the two lived in a small flat in Konoha. They were both still ANBU, and would fall into bed together after a long mission, tired and stitched up and trying to remember the taste and feel of each other.

So simple.

Shino wanted it badly.

His acceptance into ANBU meant that he would have to leave the family home, and though it was a little daunting, Shino took it all in his stride and packed his things. It was only an interim period, anyway. He would return, eventually.

Shino’s mother came into his room when he was packing. Perhaps she had been crying, but then, it was hard to tell when everyone wore sunglasses all the time. She knelt down next to him, picked up a shirt he had placed in his bag, and refolded it.

“Silly,” she chided. “What are you going to be like when you leave?”

“No one to do my laundry, you mean,” Shino deduced.

“ _Hai_ ,” she said.

“A nice break,” Shino offered weakly.

“I’ve only ever had one to care for,” she responded.

They hadn’t gotten around to the sibling chat, because every time Shino began to work up to it, his mother would go down another alley of conversation, and his father would talk about his colleagues’ children instead.

He still tried, “I’ve always wondered why.”

“Because you were enough for us,” his mother said.

“Enough hassle?” Shino asked, meek.

“Enough pleasure,” his mother corrected.

Shino put his arm around her then, because she was definitely upset, and they sat there until the sun went down and Shino’s father came upstairs to find his family.

+

All ANBU teams were assigned a coordinator, and the day Shino moved to Konoha was the same as his introductory meeting, so he had little time to place his belongings in his new apartment before it was time to attend his meeting. His ANBU coordinator was a voluptuous raven-haired woman who went by the name of Yūhi Kurenai. Her eyes were colored ruby red and reminded Shino of the legendary Uchiha Sharingan. She was nice, he decided.

“You’re the last one to arrive, Aburame,” Kurenai said, but it was not unkind. “Welcome to Konoha.”

She led him down a corridor that was painted green and pushed open a door at the end. The room they entered was far brighter thanks to the undrawn curtains, and Kurenai’s heels clicked soundly on the timber flooring as she stalked over to a desk. There were three chairs, two of which were occupied. Shino didn’t have to look at the chair on the left to know that it was Kiba. The sprawling posture was unmistakable. The middle chair contained a pale girl who had even paler eyes. This was Hinata.

“This is your final teammate, Aburame Shino,” Kurenai said to the former two. “Aburame, this is Inuzuka Kiba,” she gestured at the brunet, who smirked at him, “and Hyūga Hinata.”

The girl dipped her head respectfully.

Shino nodded back politely, glancing at Kiba and looking away quickly when the brunet’s knowing look made heat rise to his cheeks. It was impossible for the brunet to know that he had been the source of Shino’s get-off fantasies. They were memories, anyway.

Kurenai talked them through their two-week training period, and her expectations. They were presented with their ANBU uniforms, and instructed to wear them from the commencement of their training.

“Any questions?” she finished, and the three of them gave none. “Brilliant. I’ll see you all on Monday, then.”

She escorted them out, and then left the three of them to make their own way out of the building. The atmosphere felt a little awkward, but Kiba stuck a hand out at Hinata anyway.

“It was super nice to meet you,” he beamed with all of his teeth, and Hinata blushed prettily.

“Likewise, Inuzuka-san.”

“Just ‘Kiba’,” the brunet said.

“Kiba-san,” Hinata bowed and shook Shino’s hand with the same honorific. “Monday, then.”

“Monday,” Shino echoed, and the pair of them watched her walk off into the bright Konoha sun.

Once she was gone from view, Shino become very aware of Kiba again. The brunet cleared his throat, and in his periphery, Shino could see Kiba dig his hands into the pockets of his trousers. He wore the Konoha _hitai-ate_ , as usual, but that would all change on Monday when Kiba would hide his face behind an ANBU mask. It was a dog mask, of course. Shino hadn’t had time to observe his own because he had been so busy finding out what Kiba’s was.

“So…” the brunet said, trailing off.

“ _Hai_ ,” Shino answered.

The brunet kicked at a stray pebble, “How’ve you been?”

“Alright.”

He was making it difficult, and he knew it, but Shino truly had no idea what to do or say. One part of him (a very large part) wanted to reach out and see if Kiba’s mouth and his lined up the same way, but the other part was wary and aware of his duties towards his family. Winter had done a lot to Shino; it had made him remember that his dalliance with Kiba was only meant to span the time the brunet stayed at his house.

It hadn’t changed the fact that he was still in love with him though.

Kiba was nodding, bottom lip between his teeth. It was the first time Shino had ever seen him be unsure. The Kiba who had stayed with him had been confident and brash. This Kiba looked at the ground and kept kicking at pebbles.

“How have you been?” Shino said, because it was the right thing to do.

Kiba dipped his head once, “Fine.”

There was another long stretch of uncomfortable silence that pressed in thick. Shino decided that he should probably leave, but his departure seemed rude, and Shino didn’t want to offend Kiba. The brunet wasn’t about to leave either. They were at a standstill.

“I’ll see you Monday, then,” Shino said eventually.

“Yeah,” Kiba said. “That’s it, isn’t it?”

Shino didn’t want to play dumb. “I don’t know what to say.”

Kiba’s feet were scuffing the ground now, and he huffed unhappily.

“Yeah, I gathered. I’m…I don’t know, actually.” He laughed, but it was a dry bitter sound. “I guess I was thinking this would be different. A little more…I don’t know.” He looked like he was about to walk off, but then he turned back, “Y’know, I didn’t think you’d be this cold after all we did. I mean, like, come on, man.”

Memories that were readily available sprang into Shino’s mind. He knew very well of what Kiba was referring to. But he had to remind the brunet, no matter how much he hated hearing it.

“It was one week, Kiba,” Shino said as gently as he could, but the sentence sounded insensitive when spoken aloud, and a lot more hurtful.

Shino winced, wishing he had better skills with words so that the sentence he had just spoken didn’t dig talons into his chest and pull. Even Kiba could have done better than that, and he was hardly a wordsmith himself.

“Right,” Kiba said. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry for thinking that you would actually give a fuck.”

That stung, and Shino tried to explain, “Kiba—”

“No no,” the brunet said, holding his hands up in surrender as he backed away. “It’s cool. Totally cool. I understand. Forget it.”

“ _Kiba_ ,” Shino said more forcefully.

“ _Forget it_ ,” Kiba snarled, before leaving in a puff of chakra.

Shino watched the space he had occupied, a sour taste in the back of his throat.

+

Monday was crisp. Even though spring had settled in, it was still reaching its zenith, and the result was cooler mornings than the summer months.

He woke early, showered, and dressed. The ANBU uniform didn’t permit him to wear his trench coat, so it lay draped over his couch as he tugged on the other garments and pressed the mask to his face. It was a strange red one that sort of resembled one of his kikaichū.

The training ground was empty when Shino arrived, but not for long. Within the next minute, Hinata and Kiba arrived with Kurenai.

“Let’s begin,” she said.

The day passed with Kurenai arranging them into formations. Formations were an important part of ANBU teams, and she stressed the point many times over the course of the day as the three of them were given individual roles for a specific scenario.

Hinata, for all her meekness, was an astounding ninja. Her Byakugan abilities were amazing, as was her chakra control, and the only reason Shino didn’t get defeated by her was because of his intelligence, which always kept him two steps ahead of his opponents.

Regardless, Shino was already tired when they broke for lunch. Ruka-sensei had said he was ready, but she hadn’t told him he would feel like giving up on the first day. Not that he would; he had the Aburame pride to uphold, after all.

“Good fight, Shino-san,” Hinata panted afterwards.

Shino pondered about telling her to leave the honorifics, and then decided to let it be.

Hinata was sweating too, her pale skin covered in a light sheen as she drank from her water bottle. Her ANBU uniform fit her form snugly, and Shino could already tell that Kiba was forming a protective nature towards her. Typical dog.

The ‘typical dog’ also looked ten kinds of amazing in his ANBU uniform, because it showcased the brunet’s shoulders and hugged the brunet’s form and made Shino’s mind go off track a little if he stared too much, which wasn’t difficult since Kiba wasn’t looking at him. He wasn’t talking to him either; at least, not voluntarily, and had been so since his arrival earlier in the day. Shino disliked the treatment immensely, but the brunet was the one being childish, not him, and Shino was Aburame enough to preserve his dignity. If Kurenai had noticed the disharmony between the two during the morning, she hadn’t commented directly, choosing instead to comment on the need for unity between the individuals in a team.

Shino sighed, drank deep and reminded himself that ANBU status required his full dedication. He had no idea how he was going to make it through his career if Kiba insisted on being closed off. They were a team, and teams were meant to work together.

Kiba caught Shino looking at him and glared, baring his fangs slightly.

 _Dog_ , Shino thought nastily in his head.

He would make this ANBU team to be the best, maybe even better than the legendary quartet of the jinchūriki Uzumaki Naruto, Sharingan prodigy Uchiha Sasuke, genius Haruno Sakura and artist Sai, although that goal was a fair way off with the disharmony between the three of them.

Shino sighed, tipped his face up to the sun and basked in it, hoping his kikaichū were faring better than he was.

+

The next day was better, but only because Kiba had decided to stop sulking. The three of them completed their combinations with a little more finesse than the previous day, and Kurenai nodded in satisfaction at the end of the day, informing them of the next meeting time before disappearing. Shino left before the other two could find the time to make conversation, stripping off his uniform on his way to the shower and spending a long time in there thinking about the ripple of Kiba’s muscles as he moved through their combinations.

The brunet was very distracting, and Shino had been foolish to think that he could push aside his attraction to the brunet after three months away from him. He had no idea why he had entertained the possibility during the winter. Proximity was not something he had counted into the equation.

The days following that Tuesday passed in the same fashion, until they finished a week’s worth of training. Bone-tired, Shino wearily dragged himself into bed that night and stayed for the entire weekend. At one point during the Sunday, a scroll arrived for him from his parents inquiring his wellbeing and how the apartment was, and he replied accordingly before turning over to sleep again.

He was so tired.

The following Monday honed in on their communication skills as a team. Kiba was starting to warm up a little, although he was still bluntly harsh whenever Shino and him were forced to interact with each other. Kurenai stood watching them, hands folded over her ample chest, red eyes calculating, but she said nothing other than instructions.

Tuesday passed, then Wednesday and Thursday (including a more relaxed team), and then Friday passed with adequate communication, and finally their two-week training period was over. Kurenai nodded her approval at their demonstrated skills and dismissed them, telling them that they would be on call for ANBU operations from now on.

“Good luck,” she said, eyeing them all.

She knew about Shino and Kiba. Shino could tell. The knowledge was in the way she pointedly looked at the two of them, red eyes saying something along the lines of severe consequences if the two of them managed to jeopardize the team’s wellbeing due to their spat. Shino swallowed past the ball of nervousness in his throat and dipped his head briefly at Kurenai. She glared a little more for emphasis before settling on Hinata and smiling gently as if she was trying not to scare her away.

Hinata was like that, though, regardless. In the last two weeks that Shino had spent around her, it had taken only a day to deduce what the blue-haired girl’s personality was. Meek and a little oppressed, Hinata had difficulty breaking out of her shell long enough to converse properly with strangers, and though she had reached a good level of communication with Shino and Kiba, she still insisted on using proper honorifics.

A Hyūga trait, Shino had decided.

It was Kiba’s turn to disappear immediately after Kurenai left them, and Hinata left a short moment later after giving Shino a proper farewell. He went home, a tickling sensation in his stomach.

+

Shino held out his hand and let the kikachū land on his pointer.

“Well?” he asked it.

The kikachū buzzed its answer. Their target was less than a kilometer away, and was resting for the night by the river.

“What’d it say?” Kiba asked gruffly from where he was reclining.

His giant dog Akamaru—he hadn’t been lying about its size—was lying on the bank, fluffy white head providing a cushion for Hinata’s head whilst she dozed, and Kiba was settled against the dog’s stomach.

Shino relayed the information to the brunet, who nodded and gently prodded Hinata.

“Hey,” he said quietly when she blinked awake. “We’re on the move.”

“Are we?” Shino said, and Kiba nodded with an air of finality that Shino didn’t like.

“Yep,” the brunet said, helping Hinata to her feet despite her protests.

“Are you sure that’s the right decision?” Shino queried.

It seemed a little too dangerous to ambush their target when they had little more information than his whereabouts and the fact that he was a missing-nin from Kirigakure who had strayed into the Land of Fire.

“Got a better idea?” Kiba challenged.

Shino hesitated. Of course he did, but he was meant to working with the team, not against them. He turned to Hinata for help.

“It seems opportune, Shino-kun,” the blue-haired girl said, cheeks pink.

“ _Hai_ ,” Shino said.

Kiba grinned at him triumphantly, and Shino had little time to think more about the dangers of their situation before all three of them took off into the trees, masks on. Akamaru was quiet as he ran next to them, and Shino sent out bug scouts to ascertain their distance from their target. The moon shined down brightly on them, a hindrance in some aspects, and Kiba’s teeth winked in the light. Shino hoped they weren’t walking into a trap.

It took two minutes to reach the general vicinity of their target, and Kiba held up a hand to make them stop. Shino crouched on the branch next to Hinata, noting her quietly activate her Byakugan as he took in the sight before them.

There was one lone ninja, who still wore his village’s _hitai-ate_ with a slash through the symbol over his pink hair. It made him look a little like Uzumaki Naruto’s teammate, only hers was a much richer shade like a cherry blossom whilst the ninja’s hair was almost white. He slept next to a low fire, and the light illuminated his features. Shino didn’t make a noise, but Hinata did, a small gasp that wouldn’t have been audible had Shino not been right next to her. Kiba turned his head to her, having heard it through his heightened hearing abilities, and put a hand on her shoulder.

The boy was barely older than fifteen, his face sooty and healing cuts and scratches along his exposed arms. Shino documented his appearance, and then pressed his ear to the tree to observe any other presences.

There were none. He nodded at Kiba, and the brunet inclined his head. Shino wondered if he had a plan. He was betting that the brunet didn’t.

For a moment, it seemed they were at a loss of what to do. Shino was unwilling to wake the boy up, but their orders were to capture him and bring him back to Konoha for Kirigakure ninja to escort him to their village.

As it were, they didn’t need a plan.

A kunai embedded itself into the tree branch that Shino and Hinata crouched on, the specialized variation of a Kiri blade, and Shino sprang up onto Kiba’s branch. The boy was awake, standing in a defensive position with more kunai blades in his hand.

“Who’s there?” the boy demanded, and Hinata looked at Kiba and Shino.

Kiba glanced at Shino and he complied with the silent request, sending out an insect clone. The clone landed in front of the boy at a safe ten-meter distance, but Shino wasn’t too surprised when the boy loosed a kunai at it, sending his kikachū scattering. They hissed unhappily, reforming, and the boy growled before opening his mouth and screaming loudly.

 _Sonar_ , Shino thought haphazardly as the sound waves extended out, knocking them all back. The fact hadn’t been listed in their mission briefing. How convenient.

“Move,” Kiba hissed at the two of them, hands covering his ears, and Shino winced at the pain the brunet was likely experiencing thanks to his hearing. “ _Now_.”

Hinata sprang forward without preamble and Shino scrambled to keep up, sending out two more clones. The boy before them became preoccupied dealing with the clones, but he was still screaming, and Shino directed some of his kikachū to block his eardrums partially, until the sound became less intense.

“Hinata!” he shouted when the boy sent kunai her way.

She answered, deflecting each of the boy’s kunai and edging her way into his range. Her movements granted Shino the opportunity to appraise the boy’s fighting skills. He was similar to a senbon-nin, but fought with kunai instead, and his sonar abilities were rendering the two canine members of Shino’s team incapable of much.

Shino sent forth kikachū to aid Hinata in her close combat fighting, and then winced as the boy doubled over at the first strike of Hinata’s chakra-imbued hand. He was still screaming, large sound waves visible as they echoed throughout the air, and Shino decided it would take more than just himself and Hinata when the boy’s noise amplified, forcing Hinata back to where Shino was standing.

Kiba was going to hate him for this, but he sent his kikachū to the brunet anyway with strict instructions to block the brunet’s eardrums. Hinata gave a brief nod of gratitude when Shino did the same to her, and Shino wondered how she had been functioning without them, and why he hadn’t thought of it earlier.

The screaming stopped. The boy in front of them was flushed and breathless, but he still took up a defensive stance, and Hinata moved into her own stance, the Byakugan obviously still activated behind her mask. Shino recalled his kikachū, readying them for when Hinata would move in again. Already he could sense the boy’s chakra channels, and it wouldn’t take too much effort to block them with his kikachū, but the difficulty lay in the need for the boy to stop screaming long enough to get his bugs close enough without being driven back by the vibrations.

“Well?” the boy said, voice gravelly. “I haven’t got all year.”

Before either of them could do anything, Kiba leapt out of the foliage with Akamaru on all fours, claws sharper than usual and fangs dangerously long. Hinata stepped into her Gentle Fist fighting style as Kiba and Akamaru ran furious circles around the pair, ducking in to land a blow to the boy before taking off again. It was a classic hit-and-run technique, the kind the Inuzuka clan was famous for, and in any other situation, Shino might have smiled.

Sonar waves knocked Hinata and Shino back again when the boy opened his mouth, but this time they were more prepared, and Hinata batted the next wave of kunai out of the way. They deflected to Shino, who was thankful for his extra training in taijutsu during the winter to be able to avoid getting decapitated.

“That the best you’ve got?” the boy said arrogantly, despite having a hard time keeping Hinata out of arm’s reach.

Kiba’s growl was low and deep, almost unworldly, and Shino barely had time to direct his kikaichū to the boy’s chakra reserves before the brunet leapt out at the boy and tackled him, cutting off the sonar waves.

“Surprise, bitch,” he snarled, teeth sinking into the boy’s neck.

The scream that followed was bloodcurdling. Kiba was thrown onto his back immediately afterwards, skidding away, and Akamaru yelped loudly before the noise was cut off. The boy stood up, neck oozing blood, and he wiped his bleeding nose before tilting his head to either side.

He moved once more into his defensive stance, kunai ready, before a crack in the foliage behind him made his eyes widen and he turned his head just so to the right in fear. It was a fraction of a second, a partial movement, but it was enough. The chakra needle that Hinata sent hit home, slicing through the delicate skin of the boy’s ruined neck.

There was no sound, just the boy’s legs giving out from underneath him, and Hinata rushed forward to catch him as he fell, legs in a spasm. Shino recalled his kikachū from the others and the area as Kiba limped over to Akamaru. The great white dog lay on his side, eyes closed, tongue lolling out of his mouth, and Kiba whimpered.

The brunet pressed hands to the dog’s chest, saying, “Fuck, man, I’m going to need your chakra—” He broke off, and then sniffed the air once, “Shit. Guys?”

“ _Hai_.” Shino responded.

The clearing was entered by three masked ninja of Kiri—ANBU hunter-nin. Hinata looked up at Shino, but he couldn’t tell anything with the mask she was wearing. Kiba limped over to them, and Shino silently congratulated him on being able to leave Akamaru’s side when he was in his current state.

“Greetings, shinobi of Konoha,” the tallest one of them said, face hidden by his mask.

“Who are you?”

“Hunter-nin from Kiri,” the shortest said, “Dispatched for the sole purpose of taking the boy down.”

Kiba snorted, “Yeah, well, we kind of did the job for you.”

“An error in timing,” the tallest soothed, glancing over at the boy, whose head rested in Hinata’s lap.

There was nothing but hatred in his eyes and he stayed silent. Shino turned away, observing the three hunter-nin as they continued talking.

“Our sincere apologies,” the tallest said. “We shall take charge of him now.”

Shino stepped back, “Our orders are to take him to Konoha and let him await trial in Kirigakure.”

“And our orders,” the hunter-nin said, “are to dispose of him. He will not be taken to trial. Kiri has already given his sentence. He will be executed.

“The fuck?” Kiba said, and even Shino was taken aback.

There was a reason Kirigakure was known as the Village of the Bloody Mist.

“But he’s only a child,” Hinata protested softly.

“A mass murderer,” the hunter-nin corrected. “He has more blood on his hands than any of the missing-nin from our village.”

“That’s pretty hard,” Kiba admitted, albeit uncomfortably, and the hunter-nin nodded.

“Correct.”

They said no more, and Shino realized belatedly that they were waiting for Hinata to give the boy to them. Kiba tapped her gently on the shoulder and she moved to stand, letting the boy slide out of her lap. She wasn’t happy about the decision, Shino could tell, but she stayed quiet as one of the three hunter-nin took the boy from the ground.

“It’s customary to deal with missing-nin at the site of discovery,” they explained, one hand tight over the struggling boy’s mouth to stop him from screaming.

Realization dawned on Shino at the same time that Kiba’s arm shot out to grab Hinata, and the brunet pressed her face into his chest just before there was a grotesque snap. Shino swallowed hard as the three hunter-nin worked on the boy, desperate to look away but somehow anchored to the expression on the boy’s face before that too was gone.

It was quick and brutal, lasting no more than two minutes, but to Shino, it felt like hours. Eventually it was over, and the three bowed at them before leaving.

Kiba blew out a giant breath and Shino stepped closer, removing the brunet’s mask to reveal his wide eyes. Hinata shuddered into the brunet’s shoulder, and Shino didn’t have to remove her mask to know that she was crying. He coughed lightly, feeling as if he had been stripped of something but unsure of what to name it. His teammates were obviously upset, but he had to remember the wellbeing of the team, and that included Akamaru.

“Hinata,” he said, removing his own mask and placing a gentle hand on the blue-haired girl’s shoulder. “Akamaru needs your help.”

“Not now, for fuck’s sake,” Kiba grumbled, but his eyes were wet and it was easy to discern that he wanted the same as Shino.

Hinata agreed silently and moved to accommodate Shino’s instructions without complaint, leaving Kiba to approach Akamaru. She wasn’t a medic-nin, nor was she trained in it, but her chakra control would help. Kiba waited with Shino, his entire body straining to join the pair. Shino bit his lip, unsure if offering a hug to the brunet would be accepted after the animosity that had been brewing between them since his first day in Konoha.

In the end, Kiba knocked his forehead onto Shino’s shoulder when Hinata inserted chakra needles into Akamaru, and there was a moment of awkward shuffling and murmurs from them both before the brunet’s arms were tight around Shino’s shoulders, his breath hot against Shino’s neck and his tears wet against Shino’s skin.

Shino sighed and held the brunet tighter. He had missed this, the feeling of Kiba’s body pressed up against his. The brunet’s scent was still tinged with dog, but it was familiar to Shino and he followed it with his nose until it was buried in Kiba’s hair.

Hinata continued working on Akamaru and Shino closed his eyes, trailing fingertips up the brunet’s spine in what he hoped was a soothing gesture before letting them fall down to the brunet’s lower back. He didn’t expect the purr, but he decided that Kiba would most likely crucify him if he mentioned it, so he stayed quiet and repeated the action, inwardly smiling as the brunet’s body relaxed by degrees.

They stayed there for what seemed like forever, until Hinata finally stood, wiping her hands on her trousers and deactivating her Byakugan. She walked back over to them, obviously contemplating their position and choosing not to comment as she placed fingers against Kiba’s back.

“Kiba-kun?” she said meekly, and Kiba jumped, before unwinding his arms from Shino and coughing in a way that Shino could tell was to prove his manhood.

The brunet had stopped crying a while ago, and his tears had dried up as well, but his voice was still gruff as he said, “What of it? Is he gonna be okay or what?”

“He is stable,” Hinata said, rushing to say, “but he is very weak. I cannot do anything more for him. We must get him home immediately.”

Kiba nodded his head, “Yeah, sure. Fine. Shino?”

Shino agreed silently, and he went over with Kiba to help move Akamaru. The dog was out cold, and the sun was on the horizon. They didn’t have much time.

+

It took most of the morning to travel back to Konoha, and the three arrived just after midnight. Akamaru was taken immediately out of their hands, Kiba watching him go with a forlorn expression on his face. Shino suspected that the brunet would have followed his dog, but before he could they were swarmed by medical-nin.

Kurenai met them whilst the medical-nin buzzed around, questioning harshly, “Where is the boy?”

Kiba promptly vomited at the words and Hinata turned a sickly green. The medic-nin cleaned away the mess and gave Hinata a higher dosage through the drip in her arm. Now that all three of them were away from the place, it seemed that their reactions were much more than just staring and crying.

Shino answered for them despite feeling nauseous himself at the reality of what had happened to the boy. “We ran into hunter-nin from Kiri.”

Kurenai’s eyes flickered in understanding, but she still asked, “What happened then?”

“He was,” Shino broke off, trying to remember the word the hunter-nin had used to describe the brutal process. “Disposed of at the site of discovery.”

“I see,” Kurenai said. She folded her arms, red eyes moving over the three of them to assess their state of wellbeing, “Kiri issued their sentence for the boy yesterday evening.” She shook her head, “Ruthless. But never mind. You’re all here, safe and sound. I expect a debrief in two hours.”

“ _Hai_ ,” Shino said.

“Rest up,” she said in farewell.

+

Shino slammed the small glass back onto the bar. The liquid he had just consumed swam through his body, and it didn’t take much thought on his behalf to know that he was well on his way to being roaring drunk, despite only having three shots and one vodka and coke. Perhaps he was a lightweight.

How he had ended up at this nightclub in the middle of Konoha at ten at night was a complicated story, but it was something along the lines of exiting the ANBU building after an hour-long debrief and getting told by Kiba that he had something that would clear their heads. Shino had been in no mood to protest, because the brunet was right about him feeling numb after the morning, and Hinata had revealed that her father would most likely be ignorant if she was missing from the dinner table that night, so Kiba had grinned and led them to Uzumaki Naruto’s place. The boisterous blond had taken them in and plied them with packet ramen until the rest of his teammates showed up and the apartment became overrun with bodies. Haruno Sakura made them all relocate when Naruto rang up more people, and by six o’clock, her apartment was full as well. Shino knew most of them, as they were all in ANBU teams themselves. Then it was just a matter of waiting for Sakura to give Hinata a change of clothes and they all went out to the nightclub.

Shino was wearing a change of clothing himself, lent generously by Nara Shikamaru. The raven had disappeared with his blonde teammate, Yamanaka Ino, some time ago, and most of the group had merged onto the dance floor, but Kiba and Hinata were still with him.

“I’m drunk,” Shino stated as clear as he could, and his smile felt strange when he gave it in the general direction of his teammates.

Kiba was seated next to him, elbows up against the bar as he chuckled into his glass of amber liquid. It seemed that he was well versed in the art of drinking, as he had challenged Shino to doing the shots and had matched him for each without descending to the level of thoughtlessness that Shino had gotten to. Shino would have been embarrassed, had he not been so wasted.

“You’re doing good,” the brunet said, expression warm as he crunched slowly on an ice cube, concentrating on each move of his jaw muscles. “Especially in that outfit.”

“What’s that mean?”

Kiba grinned and shook his head, “Dunno.”

Hinata giggled next to him, and Kiba nuzzled her cheek affectionately. Shino felt a stab of jealousy in his gut before hailing the bartender the way Kiba had told him to earlier in the evening, and he ordered another round of shots. His previous observations about being drunk didn’t seem to be enough yet, and besides, the disgusting taste got a little addictive after a while of subjecting oneself to it. How masochistic.

Naruto joined him when they were served, fresh off the dance floor and sweat patches on his shirt to prove it. Shino didn’t think that it was possible to wear that ridiculous shade of orange every day without wanting to vomit, but Naruto seemed oblivious. He eased into the seat next to Shino and voiced his enthusiasm for shot competitions before challenging Shino and betting Kiba that he would win.

“You’re on,” Kiba said, hand slipping into the pocket of Shino’s jeans as he leant up to his ear. “Win for me, babe.”

Shino decided that the brunet was much more drunk than he was letting on if he had resorted to using the pet name again. He nodded, regardless, and tipped his head back.

Naruto’s laugh was loud and childlike, but he drank too. Shino gasped, shook his head at the onslaught to his brain and tried blinking to see if the fuzziness in his vision would go away. It didn’t, but Naruto was reaching for his next shot, so Shino did the same.

His head _hurt_.

The ground beneath his feet seemed light, and there was the sensation of floating on a cloud that constantly had Shino stumbling back into Kiba’s warm chest. Kiba, who this morning was a bigoted egotist. Kiba, who was now rumbling with approval at every drink Shino swallowed and wrapping an arm around Shino’s waist and tonguing Shino’s ear. The result was arousal punching Shino low in his gut, and it took a lot of willpower to remain focused on Naruto and the shots.

“No, no, my head,” the blond said when they were meant to be taking their fifth, and he groaned loudly when Shino went ahead with his own. “Fuck.”

Kiba’s laugh was husky in Shino’s ear. Naruto was leaning heavily against Hinata, a casual arm slung around her shoulders, and he looked about two minutes from passing out.

“Are you alright?” he checked, and the blond shook his head.

“Nuh.”

They had the predicted two minutes before Naruto collapsed, and Shino mentally congratulated himself on being able to think properly whilst inebriated. He was very intoxicated. It was the first time he had ever consumed alcohol with the sole aim of getting drunk, and so far Kiba was right: it _did_ make you forget. He couldn’t even remember why he had gotten drunk in the first place.

Uchiha Sasuke was at Naruto’s side not long after, hissing at the blond and ultimately slapping him to wake him up. The blond did, albeit very reluctantly, by which time Sakura had joined the pair. She rolled her eyes and threatened to beat the blond up for drinking himself silly before stepping forward to sling the blond’s arm around her shoulder like Sasuke had done.

“Sorry, guys,” she said. “He’s such an idiot.”

“I heard that,” Naruto argued.

“I _know_ ,” Sakura said in exasperation. “Gods. I’m tempted to skip the beating and just kill you instead.”

“ _No…_ ” Naruto said pathetically.

“Shut _up_ , _dobe_ ,” Sasuke muttered, and he and Sakura hefted him up.

“We’ll do this again sometime, yeah?” Naruto slurred at Shino, Kiba and Hinata, giving them a ‘good guy’ thumbs up and wink that Shino suspected was taught to the blond by the taijutsu virtuoso Rock Lee. “You’re…fantastic.”

“I know. I won,” Kiba pointed out, chin hooked over Shino’s shoulder.

Naruto grinned lopsidedly at him and managed to give him the finger, “Funny.”

The trio left, stumbling as they went. Shino picked up his glass of whatever it was and drank it lazily, liking the burning path the beverage made as it tracked down his esophagus. Kiba was still drinking too, and he huffed a laugh into his glass when Shino’s aim was off and some of his drink spilled out the corner of his mouth.

“Y’so drunk,” Kiba said halfheartedly, before settling his gaze on Hinata and sobering a little. “Hina-chan,” he said clumsily. “You wanna go home yet?”

The blue-haired girl was flushed pink, but she wasn’t nearly as inebriated as her male teammates. “Yeah. Otōsan will be worrying soon.”

“ _Hai_ ,” Shino gathered his wits to the best of his abilities and took her hand in his, slightly surprised when she didn’t pull away.

“Thanks, Shino,” she said, forgoing the honorific (she really was drunk if she wasn’t being polite) as she snuggled into his warmth, and Kiba took her other hand.

“Let’s getcha home,” the brunet said.

“ _Hai_ , Kiba,” Hinata hummed, and Shino felt a strong protective urge overcome him as the two of them escorted her out of the pulsating nightclub.

They managed to walk to her place in one piece. Outside, the air was not as warm or cloying, and so it took five minutes worth of stumbling around trying to get their bearings before Shino’s mind managed to turn back on a little. Apparently Hinata and Kiba found the same, because their words didn’t run together as much and their sentences became a little bit easier to understand.

“Your dad’s gonna kill us,” Kiba said forlornly.

Hinata shook her head, “He’ll most likely be asleep, Kiba.”

“Huh. Hope you’re right.”

The Hyūga compound was large, gated, and guarded. Hinata stopped them before they could near the gates, thanking them for walking her home and protecting her.

“Anytime, Hina-chan,” Kiba told her, holding out his arms. “C’mere.”

Hinata’s cheeks were still pink despite the cool air, but she leant into Kiba’s embrace anyway and accepted the kiss he pressed into her hair. Following that she wrapped arms around Shino as well and smiled at them both before meeting the guards at the entrance of her compound.

Kiba and Shino watched them open the gates and let her in silently. Then it struck Shino that he had no idea what to do next. There was the option of walking Kiba home and making his own way home, but he was unsure if the brunet was willing to accompany him now that they were out of the nightclub.

“Let’s go, Shino,” Kiba said softly.

Shino looked at him, before falling into step with the brunet wordlessly. The air of uncertainty never left him, and Shino wondered if it was the alcohol talking. Probably. His mind was still back at the bar where Kiba had touched him willingly. He already missed it.

Shadows coalesced before him into patches of darkness and he tripped over his own feet more than once, resisting the urge to reach out for Kiba and hold him each time. He doubted the brunet would appreciate it. Hell, he was surprised that the brunet was even walking him home.

His head still hurt. He was confused. Nothing was working quite right.

They were nearing the center of the village when Shino’s thoughts clogged up too much in his head and he spoke without further preamble, “Kiba?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out.

Kiba frowned, rubbed his eyes tiredly, “What for?”

“Being difficult.” Shino explained, trying to choose the right words. “These last few weeks, I mean.”

Shino wasn’t expecting Kiba to snort, but he did, and then it became an all-out laugh.

“What?” he asked, worried that he had said something other than an apology.

His brain-mouth filter wasn’t very clear.

Kiba’s fangs glinted in the moonlight, reminding Shino of the day before when they had been on their mission, and the brunet said, “You’re such a weirdo.”

It was Shino’s turn to frown, because he didn’t understand what the brunet found so amusing. He knew he was weird; that was nothing new.

“I don’t understand.”

Kiba shook his head, stepping away. “Forget it, man.”

Shino’s hand reached out on reflex, snagging Kiba’s wrist and dragging him closer, “I don’t want to, though.”

From here, Shino could see the circles around Kiba’s eyes, and the residual redness. He thought of Akamaru, who had been left at the hospital by Kiba (albeit reluctantly), and wondered how much time Kiba had been given to spend crying about his dog before the rest of them had dragged him off to the nightclub. Suddenly, Shino felt like apologizing for that too.

“You _should_ forget it,” Kiba said lowly, eyes narrowed.

It seemed as though they were not just talking about Kiba calling Shino a ‘weirdo’ anymore.

“But I don’t want to,” he repeated.

Kiba pulled his arm back, “Well you sure as hell said as much when you came here.”

Yeah, they were definitely not talking about Shino being weird.

“That was a misunderstanding—”

“Oh yeah?” Kiba snorted. “It seemed pretty straightforward to me.”

Shino blinked rapidly. “It wasn’t, though. Well, it is, but—”

“Look.” Kiba grabbed his shoulders and cut off his ramble before he could say anything further, “I don’t care anymore. I really don’t. It was like you said: one week only. Just forget anything I ever said about it, okay?”

“That’s just it, though,” Shino huffed. “I _have_ tried forgetting, Kiba. I tried all winter, and during spring, and then I came here and you were all…”

Kiba blew out an irritated sigh, “All what?”

“You,” Shino said, wishing he could be more eloquent. “It’s a little…self-explanatory.”

“You’re so confusing.”

“Kami, I don't know what I'm saying. I drunk, I'm tired, I'm still fucking reeling from this morning and just—”

Shino kissed Kiba.

His hands found their way into the brunet’s hair without conscious thought. He didn’t care, not now. His drunken mind had told him that kissing the brunet was the right choice, so he had followed its directions. Currently, it was a good idea. It had been a while since he had kissed the brunet: four months, or thereabouts. His brain really wasn’t up to calculations at the moment.

There was a second of stillness, and then Kiba’s hands were on him as well and he was kissing back, aggressive and demanding. Shino’s teeth moved too quickly and Kiba growled at the erroneous bite to his tongue before pawing at Shino’s clothing.

The street was dark where they stood, and Shino didn’t notice that they were moving until Kiba shoved him against the wall of some building, away from the main street. Mindless, Shino nodded dazedly and let the brunet suck kisses into his throat as he tried getting their trousers undone. He still wasn’t as proficient in the act as Kiba was, apparently.

“Whoa, whoa,” Kiba said, hand tight around Shino’s wrist when he managed to loosen the brunet’s pants. “What are you doing?”

“Everything,” Shino admitted breathlessly, refusing to believe that Kiba was one to turn down Shino’s obvious pursuit and taking the brunet’s mouth in his again.

“Shino—” Kiba said out the side of their joined mouths, but Shino had Kiba's trousers open and the brunet was hard as anything so Shino didn't listen and grasped him instead. Kiba grunted in response. “Fucking hell, people might see us—”

His last word morphed into a groan as Shino began to stroke haphazardly, and he dug fingers into Shino’s arm.

“Kami, Shino, we’re on the fucking street.”

Shino was oblivious, leaning in to lick a stripe up Kiba’s neck. The brunet would be lying through his teeth if he told Shino to stop, because he was hot and heavy in Shino’s spit-slick hand and bucking into the touch.

“Kiba,” Shino muttered, remembering the feel of Kiba’s erection, the expressions flitting across Kiba’s face, the sounds that Kiba was making. “You’re so beautiful.”

“I know,” the brunet grumbled, hands working their way into Shino’s trousers despite saying, “And you’re so fucking stupid for doing this where people might see.”

“It’s two in the morning and I’m drunk,” Shino said, tongue lazy as it wrapped around Kiba’s. “And you taste wonderful.”

“Fucking hell,” Kiba said helplessly, hips rolling steadily as he finally got Shino’s trousers undone.

Warm fingers linked around Shino’s arousal and he gasped at the feeling, familiar with but unused to the foreign touch. It had been far too long since Kiba, he decided, and doing the deed himself was now far too inadequate.

“If we get caught, I’m blaming you,” Kiba said through gritted teeth, wetting his hand and pushing both their erections together.

It was Shino's turn to moan indecently, and he laughed softly, finding that he didn’t care if they were caught. “Alright.”

“‘Alright’?” Kiba complained, so coherent compared to him. “You’re so weird.”

“I know,” Shino said, oscillating his hips into Kiba’s as they stroked themselves together, finding that his rhythm improved with every passing moment.

Kiba didn’t do anything other than pant, letting Shino lick the inside of his mouth as they moved. Frottage was never something Shino had considered he would find himself doing, but the reality was that he was doing it in some deserted alley that smelt strongly of urine and garbage.

“Did I tell you that you look amazing?” Kiba said, teeth catching the skin behind Shino’s ear before he cursed. “Could’ve fucking _mauled_ you back there.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The get-up,” Kiba said. “ _Fuck_ —been wanting to get my hands under this shirt all night.”

“You’re not under it though,” Shino said.

“No,” Kiba nodded, clawing at the buttons, “No, I’m not—fucking gods, Shino—”

“Kiba?”

The brunet whimpered instead of replying, hands tightening and breath quickening, and Shino sealed his mouth over the brunet’s in response, finding that his question could remain unanswered. It was irrelevant. They didn’t speak for a while after that, although Kiba swore a lot and bit at Shino’s lips, gasping every time Shino implemented new techniques that he had learned over the course of his solitary shower escapades.

The brunet finished before he did, head hitting the wall behind them as the warm liquid pooled in Shino’s hand. Kiba’s own was linked loosely around Shino’s erection, and Shino finished himself off, sinking forward to pant into Kiba’s neck when it was done.

“Shino,” Kiba said eventually, when their releases were cooling on his hand and their breathing returning to normal.

Shino reckoned he could count on his hands the number of times Kiba had called him by his name. “Yes?”

“Where d’you live?”

He frowned into the brunet’s throat, wondering when he had bitten Kiba’s neck, “Why?”

“Because I wanna sleepover.”

Shino was steadily becoming aware of the drying semen on his hand. “Seriously?”

“For fuck’s sake, no, you moron.” Kiba’s fingers threaded their way into Shino’s hair. “I just need another change of clothes. You’ve ruined mine.”

“Sorry,” Shino apologized, standing up and trying not to be perturbed by the fact that Kiba was brushing this event aside as a one-off in the street.

He had a vague indication of where they were, but it wasn’t until they got onto the main street that he realized his apartment was the next block over.

Kiba didn't say anything as Shino fumbled with his keys, and then there was another battle with the lock before he led the brunet upstairs to his room and rifled through his drawers for pants that wouldn’t be too long. Gods, why did he drink so much?

He refused to acknowledge the sinking feeling in his gut.

“Are these good?” he asked the brunet.

Then he forwent waiting to hear the answer when Kiba licked his lips, and he kissed the brunet instead.

+

The next morning was bright. Far. Too. Bright. Shino woke up to feel it on his face, and he groaned pathetically. The sheets on the other side were rumpled, but his bed was empty. He couldn’t recall too much of last night without his head feeling like it would explode, and he had to take a quick trip to the bathroom before his stomach emptied itself over his pillow.

Eventually he pulled on a pair of sweatpants and stumbled out into his living room, confused when he saw Kiba sitting on the balcony, back to him. The brunet was also shirtless, and he was holding a mug in his hands. A hot beverage, Shino discerned, according to the steam rising from it.

“What’re you doing here?” he said as he stepped out onto the balcony, squinting in the sunlight and holding his head.

Kiba turned to look at him, “Morning, sunshine.”

“Hey,” Shino replied groggily.

The brunet pushed a plate at him containing eggs and chips. “Eat something before you throw up all over me.”

“I don’t understand,” Shino said carefully, because he didn’t think he would be able to eat without vomiting again.

Kiba didn’t answer, saying, “How’s your head?”

“Like I got beaten up by Uzumaki’s shadow clones countless times,” Shino said truthfully. “What happened last night?”

“You don’t remember?” Kiba grinned.

Shino started to shake his head, before stopping. Then he felt the blood drain from his face. Of course. Last night had been very…strenuous. He winced, remembering the nightclub, and the street alley, and then the multiple positions in his bedroom.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Kiba said knowingly.

Shino cursed before he could stop himself, “ _Fuck_.”

“ _Yep_ ,” Kiba chuckled, returning to his beverage.

“Kiba—”

“I know,” the brunet said, even though Shino wasn’t quite sure what the brunet was admitting to knowing. “I haven’t forgotten about your girlfriend, man.”

“I don’t have—”

“But you’ll get one,” Kiba interrupted, waving at him like one would with a pesky fly. “S’all good. Last night was just…getting rid of post-mission stress.” He lowered his lips to his drink, “Or something.”

Shino wanted to feel relieved, but he wasn’t, because now, without the alcohol to numb him, he could still see the boy’s face from the mission whilst the hunter-nin disposed of him. Then he remembered Kiba’s face when he came on Shino’s cock last night, and that replaced the boy’s haunting gaze quicker than kidaichū consuming one’s chakra.

“Okay,” Shino coughed quickly.

He needed to quit that train of thought before he forgot about his decision to leave Kiba alone again. A repeat of last night wasn’t exactly the best way of preparing himself for the wife that his parents would find him in the near future. He was nineteen; he was to become betrothed soon.

“That’s…yes.” Shino said, staring down at the plate and trying to instill some resolve. “That’s all it was.” He added flippantly, “A one-off.”

“Which won’t happen again,” Kiba declared.

“No,” Shino agreed.

+

Nothing further happened.

Hinata reverted to her shy, polite self, and Akamaru made a speedy recovery within the two-week period the three of them were given to spend training.  Following that, they were given another, much less complicated mission of reconnaissance in an unknown land, and returned home to Konoha after three days with information that satisfied Kurenai’s requirements, with some added knowledge as a bonus.

Naruto managed to get them all to the nightclub again, but Shino refrained from drinking too much, as did the other two, making him deduce that his drunken happenings with Kiba the other night were truly an outlet for post-mission stress.

It didn’t explain why he found himself sinking to his knees two nights later giving his very first blowjob to Kiba though.

“That was a mistake,” the brunet said afterwards, flushed and covered in sweat and still breathtaking.

“Yes,” Shino said, standing and exiting, the familiar taste of Kiba’s release still on his lips.

He didn’t see why Kiba had enjoyed giving it to him when the Inuzukas had stayed at the Aburames; the act was messy and involved too many body fluids and made Shino feel like gagging every minute.

Kiba was right: it _was_ a mistake. He would do better in the future.

+

Not so. It didn’t take much, either, just two shots of alcohol to appease Naruto’s competitive side after another mission and somehow he ended up in Kiba’s apartment, folded over the brunet’s back, pushing in by degrees and leaving marks on the nape of Kiba’s neck to stop from finishing so early.

“You need to fucking stop,” Kiba complained in the morning after he had purged his stomach in the bathroom.

“Hypocrite,” Shino accused.

+

They weren’t even drunk the next time. Following a weekly training session, Shino waited until Hinata was gone before he lunged and the next instant he was on Kiba, kissing him quickly and fumbling with the buckle of his trousers, marveling at the fact that his actions were well received.

“Come on, come on,” Kiba hissed, reeling Shino in by the loops on his trousers, hips meeting Shino’s and legs wrapping around him of their own accord.

Shino barely thought, just slipped eagerly against the brunet until the tight muscle let him pass after a couple of moments. A short exclamation of Kiba’s name was met with rushed lips, and then there was a series of clumsy thrusting before Kiba spoke up.

“Stop _asking_ me, Kami.”

“But…” Shino gasped in a breath when Kiba clenched down, “did you?”

“Can’t you…tell?” Kiba growled. “Fine, yes, maybe…maybe I did…earlier. _Shut up_.”

“But why?” Shino said, hips grinding into Kiba’s, mind stuck mostly on _heat_ and _tight_ and _Kiba_.

“Because I’m _human_ ,” Kiba said it like a question, and Shino could hear the, ‘ _we do things like that_. “I was _horny_. Would you just—oh—”

Shino caught the underlying taunt and pushed extra hard on the next thrust, repeating it. Kiba had no time to do anything other than pant and Shino kept up the pace, silently feeling smug when Kiba scrabbled to keep a grip on him and avoid letting Shino’s cock be the only thing keeping him up.

“I was stressed,” Kiba said firmly, when they had finished, when his legs were cooperating again, when Shino’s cock was uncomfortably tucked away, and when the two of them were more clearheaded.

“Likewise,” Shino said, wishing he had faith in himself.

+

Shino wasn’t that surprised when he woke up next to Kiba some days later. Summer was slowly making way for autumn, and it was becoming apparent that very soon he would no longer be able to count on both hands the number of times he and Kiba had done something related to sex, including the period where Kiba had stayed at Shino’s parents’ house with his mother.

“You’ve got a fucking girlfriend,” Kiba shouted, eyes dark and angry.

Shino rubbed his head wearily, wishing Kiba would stop reminding him of how weak his resolve had become, “No, Kiba, I don’t.”

“But you’re going to,” Kiba said sourly, teeth dangerously sharp.

“I am.”

“Fucking leave it alone then,” the brunet grumbled, pulling on his ANBU uniform. “I said ‘never again’.”

They were departing on a new mission today, and were teamed up with another ANBU trio to hunt down a band of Konoha shinobi who had gone rogue.

Shino got up and copied the brunet, strapping on his gloves, “You never seem to complain.”

“I’m a guy,” Kiba snorted. “Of course I’m not gonna complain when you’ve got a hand around my dick.”

“Then this means nothing?” Shino said, quietly challenging the brunet.

Kiba snarled at him and tugged his scarf on without saying anything further. Shino smirked into his scarf, knowing he had won, and the two of them left to join the others.

+

The mission did not go well. For a couple of days, it had seemed as though their targets were oblivious, and then they had been ambushed. Two of the other trio had been killed in the conflict, and Kiba had suffered severe damage. The rogue shinobi had been powerful. Shino was sure some of those jutsus had been created for the sole purpose of taking out tokubetsu.

It had taken an age to return to Konoha, because Shino’s leg had been splinted and Hinata had been mostly delirious. Akamaru had provided the transport for the unconscious Kiba and Hinata whilst the other ANBU member had supported Shino.

Kurenai had debriefed Shino and the ANBU member together, letting them go after half an hour because they had little more to offer her than the fact that they were ambushed, and that the rogue ninja were still out there.

Hinata’s concerned father had escorted her home as soon as her physical injuries were taken care of, leaving Shino sitting in Kiba’s room with his newly set leg healing in a cast. He had suffered few injuries apart from his leg thanks to his preference for long-range combat, but even his own genius mind hadn’t been enough to stay two steps ahead of the enemy.

The clock hands shifted to show the time: five o’clock in the evening. Kiba was still out of it, stitched up and bandaged, attached to too many tubes and monitors. Akamaru lay on the floor next to him, asleep. He hadn’t left Kiba’s side since his admittance to the hospital room.

There was movement.

Shino was on his feet immediately, cautiously approaching Kiba. The brunet was slowly blinking himself awake, and he startled at the sight of Shino before relaxing.

“Just you,” he said, voice gravelly from disuse.

“Yes.”

Kiba turned his head gingerly to the side, “This is the worst hangover ever.”

Shino fought down a smile, “You’re in hospital.”

He refrained from saying ‘idiot’. Kiba had more of an effect on him than first thought.

Kiba’s brow furrowed in confusion, before his eyes widened in realization, “Shit. What happened? How long’ve I been out?”

“Two days,” Shino answered. “Almost three. You were defeated rather convincingly.”

“Gee, thanks. Akamaru?”

“He’s fine.”

“Thank gods,” he sighed, before trying to sitting up, “Hinata. She okay?”

Shino pushed him back down. “Yes, although the rogue shinobi subjected her to an unknown genjutsu for a long time. Her mind is still healing.”

Kiba coughed, “And you’re ’right?”

Shino shrugged, “Yes.”

Kiba nodded, staring up at the ceiling. Shino pondered on whether the brunet would care, and then threw his caution to the wind, reaching out and plucking the brunet’s fingers off his chest until they were linked with his.

“Scared you, didn’t I?” Kiba said, amusement in his voice.

“Yes.”

“Whatever.”

“I think you’ll find that I was very concerned,” Shino said. “Possibly more than Akamaru.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

Shino almost kissed him, but was reminded of their disagreement before they had embarked on their mission, “I’ll have a girlfriend soon, though.”

“True,” Kiba said, eyes hopeful as he added, “But you don’t have one now.”

Shino quirked his lip at the brunet’s words. "No."

"What are you waiting for then?"

+

“Talk to your parents,” Kiba told him a fortnight later when he was out of the hospital. “I’m not going to be your stupid mistress when you get wedded off.”

“You’re staying around?” Shino said, ignoring the surge of hope in his chest.

He loved this idiot.

“Of course I am,” Kiba said brusquely. “I think that’s fairly obvious.”

Kiba had tracked Shino down at his apartment at seven o’clock that evening and kept it strictly professional when he suggested getting ‘crappy takeout’ together. Shino didn’t know why they had bothered when he could have just made something at his apartment, but he supposed that he couldn’t trust himself enough to keep from taking the brunet to his bed or similar.

Shino pondered the ground beneath his feet, and wondered if Kiba would let Shino kiss him or not. He worried that the other day was just because Kiba had woken up after a near-death experience and was craving physical contact.

“What am I meant to tell them?”

Kiba rolled his eyes, chewing on the remainders of his jerky. It was beefsteak, his favorite, but Shino didn’t see the appeal. It smelt too strong.

“That you’ve found someone who won’t give them grandkids the way they want.”

Shino’s eyebrows rose, “You’re actually serious about staying.”

Kiba huffed and reached up, pulling off Shino’s sunglasses and murmuring, “No shit.”

Overwhelmingly happy, Shino decided he didn’t mind jerky if Kiba was the one who was making him taste it.

+

He went home the next day. Travel wouldn’t take too long, and if he set out early enough in the day, he would make it back to Konoha by the evening. He didn’t tell Kiba he was leaving, but he suspected the brunet would know by the afternoon, given the fact that Kiba was curious, like a dog, and that Shino had to apply to Kurenai for one day’s leave.

It took two hours to make it home. His mother’s surprise was evident when he knocked on the door, and she swept him into a hug, overjoyed.

“Shino,” his father greeted warmly, coming to see what the commotion was.

He bowed appropriately, hoping he didn’t flush when his mother commented on his change of scent and citing something about close proximity with his teammates as the reason.

They led him to the living room, his mother asking him about his duties, how the missions had gone, and if he had made many friends. He answered accordingly, unused to his mother being so vocal and unsure when to broach the subject about not getting betrothed. The suggestion that he wanted to break away from Aburame tradition was likely to get him disowned, but he had to try.

In the end, his father was the one who started it, saying, “I have it on good authority that you have formed some very meaningful relationships in Konoha.”

Shino swallowed, nodding quickly.

“In particular,” his father continued, “with Inuzuka Tsume’s son.”

Shino forced himself to look his father in the eye, “ _Hai_.”

“You’re not denying it?”

Shino shook his head, “ _Īe_.”

His mother nodded then, seemingly resigned, and his father said nothing for a long time.

+

When Shino returned to Konoha at eight that night, it took a moment for him to let his parents’ opinions sink in. He had anticipated the worse, but he hadn’t considered what had actually taken place.

As expected, Kiba was already in his apartment when he arrived, lying on the couch with Akamaru. Shino hadn’t even bothered trying to keep Akamaru off the furniture the first time the dog had come to his apartment, because he belonged to Kiba, and Shino had grown fond of him.

“You’re back.”

“Yes,” Shino said, restating the obvious. “I am back.”

Kiba’s blank expression gave nothing away, although Shino suspected that the brunet was bursting to ask how it went. Shino wasn’t quite sure what had happened himself. He unzipped his outer jacket, hanging it up by the door and toeing off his shoes, contemplating on having the conversation with Kiba, even though it wasn’t something he wanted to spend his time doing.

“Well?” Kiba said eventually.

“They knew,” Shino told the brunet. “I didn’t even have to tell them.”

Kiba, to his merit, didn’t start swearing, “And?”

Shino knelt down in front of him, taking in the way the brunet’s eyes lit up momentarily before gazing away, cheeks turning pink underneath his tan. Strange for him to be shy in the face of something—someone—he knew so well.

“They weren’t one hundred percent happy about it,” Shino admitted, fingers grazing up Kiba’s thighs. “But I’m allowed.”

“Allowed?” Kiba echoed, throat working around a swallow when Shino started undoing his jeans.

“No future girlfriends anymore,” Shino said. “Unless you decide not to continue.”

The kiss that Kiba hauled him up into was much rougher than Shino was expecting, but the brunet was kind, keeping his teeth out of the equation.

“What about giving them grandchildren, though?” the brunet panted. “Weren’t they pissed off about that?”

Shino brushed his nose against Kiba’s, “They don’t think we’ll last long enough to want kids.”

The grin Kiba gave Shino was feral, “They don’t know anything.”

“Those are my parents you’re insulting,” Shino reminded him, brain stuttering over the impossible implication that Kiba was staying around long enough to want children with Shino.

“Just stating facts,” the brunet replied cockily, confirming Shino’s thoughts.

“My parents are very knowledgeable.”

“And I’m incredibly competitive,” Kiba finished, moaning softly when Shino got his trousers open. “Shino.”

“Hm?”

“You know this means a lot for me, right?” He tapped nervous fingers against the couch when Shino tilted his head in confusion. “The other day, before the mission. You asked me if it meant anything. Well, it means everything.”

“We’re always fighting, though.”

“I’m a dog,” Kiba shrugged, baring his fangs slightly. “We have a thing for dominance.” He barked out a short laugh, “Y’know, this really isn’t conversation material whilst having a blowjob.”

Shino pulled back, resting his head on Kiba’s thigh, “You’re still beautiful.”

“You’re still weird for using girly adjectives,” Kiba retorted.

“It’s apt.”

“Yeah, but I don’t use them to profess my undying love for you,” Kiba said sarcastically.

“Yes, but then you’re hardly eloquent,” Shino said, ignoring the fluttering sensation in his chest from Kiba’s admission underneath his words and shutting the brunet up with his mouth instead.

 

[end]


End file.
